Mandya: Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy launched a strong attack against the state government’s ambitious Bidadi Township Project during his visit to Mandya, accusing the government of trying to grab fertile agricultural land from farmers. He assured the farmers not to fear and stand firm.

“Don’t be afraid of this land loot! In the name of Bidadi Township, the government is attempting to loot the fertile lands of farmers. Don’t give away even an inch of your land. There’s no need for fear I stand with you,” Kumaraswamy declared.

He accused the government of pandering to real estate lobbies and clarified the misunderstanding regarding his earlier decisions.

“The government claims that the Bidadi Township plan was decided during my tenure don’t take shelter under my name. The decision taken during my time was completely different from the one being made today. Back then, land prices were much lower, but now the land has become extremely valuable,” he clarified.

He opposed the plan to acquire about 9,000 acres of land for the project. iQOO Z10R 5G (Aquamarine, 8GB RAM, 128GB Storage) | 32MP 4K Selfie Camera | Quad-Curved AMOLED Display | Dimensity 7400 Processor with 750K+ AnTuTu

“Why not build the township in Kanakapura’s dry lands?”

Targeting the state government, Kumaraswamy challenged it to build the township in Kanakapura, asking, “When you set up a milk dairy in Kanakapura earlier, how much compensation did you pay the farmers? How much did you give your own supporters? Your own officials admit that there’s plenty of dry land available in Kanakapura why not use that for the township?”

He alleged that the government’s intention was not to uplift the people of Bidadi, but to benefit itself:

“This plan is not meant for the welfare of Bidadi’s people; it’s designed for your own welfare.”

He urged the government not to trouble farmers and instead build the township where dry land is available

“Should farmers sleep on roads for seven days for sugarcane price?”

Expressing concern over the ongoing farmers’ protest for sugarcane price fixation, Kumaraswamy criticized the Congress government.

“With a government that has 136 seats, do poor farmers have to sleep on roads for seven days? When I was Chief Minister, along with loan waivers, I gave ₹25,000 as relief per farmer when sugarcane was not sold a total of ₹250 crore. I personally saw the dried sugarcane,” he recalled.

He also criticized the Chief Minister for not visiting the protest site, despite touring the same region.

“When farmers ask for price fixation, they say it’s the central government’s responsibility to fund it. The Congress government is playing with the lives of farmers,” he alleged angrily.

Next step?

Kumaraswamy said he has not yet visited the protest site to avoid allegations of politicizing the issue, but added, “We’ll take a decision after seeing what the government decides.” Also Read: Sensex, Nifty Plunge Amid Global Weakness and FII Outflows!?