From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Dec 11: A day after the State Legislature session, revenue minister R Ashoka lambasted at the opposition Congress leaders for instigating the farmers to hold protests opposing the land reforms and APMC bills passed by the State legislature.

“Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and KPCC president D K Shivakumar are unemployed and they have no work except supporting the protest by farmers,’’ the minister said.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on Frida, Ashok appealed to the farming community not to succumb to the “anti-BJP propaganda” tactics of the Opposition Congress.

The minister said it was the Congress which initiated to amend Sections 79(a) and 79(b) by constituting a cabinet sub-committee when Srinivas Prasad was the revenue minister in the Siddaramaiah government.

Farmers of the state have been protesting against farm laws passed by both state and central governments. The Congress leaders supported the farmers’ protested and the band call.

The Karnataka Land Reforms (Second) Amendment Bill, 2020, was passed in the State Legislature has enabled non-agriculturists to purchase farm land.

The Bill removed restrictions on purchase of agricultural land and mandated that the purchaser of agricultural land should use the land for agricultural purposes only, the revenue minister explained.

The APMC bill was passed to enable famers to sell their produce anywhere outside the APMC market.

Congress Attacks BJP Govt

Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress slammed the ruling BJP government’s decision to amend the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Prevention of Animals Act, 1964 and it will increase farmers’ hardship and render lacs of people jobless in the leather industry.

Exactly 10 years ago, the Bill was passed when BJP was in power with B S Yediyurappa as the chief minister. It was dropped in 2013 by the Siddaramaiah government after the bill failed to get the Governor’s assent.

KPCC president D K Shivakumar urged the BJP government to purchase unproductive and aged cows from farmers by fixing the price.

The BJP leaders have to purchase cows from farmers and feed them in their houses. The party would launch awareness campaigns on the Bill at the taluk-level across the state after elections to gram panchayats, he said.

The Congress, which boycotted the Legislative Assembly session on Thursday, said through the Bill the government’s intention was to communal polarization and disturbing peace in the society.

Instead, the government should focus on providing relief to drought and flood affected farmers, said leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah.

Siddaramaiah said the state imports nearly 40% of the fodder from other states and it was difficult for farmers to feed cows and bulls during droughts.

The state government introduced and passed the Bill in the Assembly without conducting any study to find out social and economic disadvantageous of the anti-cow slaughter bill on the farming and other sections of the people, the Congress claimed.

Siddaramaiah said the country was the third largest exporter of beef and second largest exporter of leather products in the world. The state witnessed frequent droughts, the Congress leader said and demanded the government to withdraw the bill in in the interest of the farmers.