Opposition BJP in Karnataka on Wednesday questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's silence over the sugarcane farmers' agitation in the state and demanded that the government fix the price of their produce at Rs 3,500 a tonne.
Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka asked Rahul Gandhi, "Where is Kisan Nyay (farmer justice) for the farmers of Karnataka?" He accused the Congress government in the state of being "anti-farmer."
Various farmers' organisations, the opposition BJP, students, and others supported the farmers' protest that spread across several districts of north Karnataka, including Belagavi, Bagalkote, and Haveri.
State BJP President B. Y. Vijayendra, who joined the protesting farmers in Belagavi on Tuesday, also took part in the overnight agitation. Farmer leaders greeted Vijayendra, whose birthday was on Wednesday.
"If Rahul Gandhi's heart really beats for farmers, why is he silent when Karnataka's sugarcane growers have been forced to block highways for six straight days?" Ashoka asked.
"As many as 26 sugar factories were shut. Roads and highways were blocked. Markets, schools, and businesses closed. Farmers are begging the government to talk. But the Congress High Command is busy campaigning in Bihar," he said in a post on 'X'.
Alleging that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D. K. Shivakumar are busy saving and clinching chairs, Ashoka said confused ministers and MLAs don't know which faction to please and have become blind and deaf to farmers' suffering.
"So is Rahul Gandhi's so-called Kisan Nyay limited to election manifestoes? Political rallies in other states? TV sound bites when cameras are rolling?" he questioned.
Asking Rahul Gandhi to at least show the courtesy to speak to the farmers of the state, where his own party is ruling, the opposition leader said, "The truth is bitter. Congress Kisan Nyay (farmer justice) has become Kisan Vanchana (deception)."
"Shame on this Kisan-Virodhi Congress government," he added.