HDK slams govt, says farmers ignored

Ramanagara: Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the Karnataka government over the proposed Bidadi Township project, questioning whether the government was pursuing the project to “send money to Delhi” rather than protect the interests of farmers.

Kumaraswamy was speaking at Bairamanga village after launching a joint BJP-JDS padayatra against the township project by watering a sapling. He said the agitation was being organised to support farmers who had been protesting against the project for the past 515 days.

“This padayatra is for the interests of farmers and not for political gain,” Kumaraswamy said, adding that farmers had continued their protest despite alleged pressure and threats. He rejected Congress allegations that the JDS was responsible for the township proposal.

Kumaraswamy said the decision taken when the project was conceived in 2006 was different from the present proposal and claimed that neither his government nor the subsequent BJP government had issued preliminary or final acquisition notifications.

Questioning the government’s offer to farmers, Kumaraswamy said the compensation had initially been discussed at Rs 2 crore per acre but was now being raised to Rs 3 crore.

“Are you running a business? Why is the compensation being changed?” he asked.He also questioned Chief Minister D K Shivakumar over government land in the proposed project area. Kumaraswamy claimed that around 2,600 acres of government land existed in the area in 2006 and asked what had happened to it.

He questioned the government’s decision to appoint a committee to examine the township proposal, recalling that a fact-finding committee had also been constituted in 2006.Kumaraswamy alleged that attempts were being made to acquire farmers’ land using police force and urged farmers to remain united. Several BJP and JDS leaders, including R. Ashoka and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, participated in the padayatra.