Belagavi/Dharwad/Vijayapura: Sugarcane growers’ agitation in north Karnataka escalated on Tuesday, bringing several towns to a standstill as farmers demanded that the state govt fix a fair price of Rs 3,500 per tonne. The agitation disrupted operations at 26 sugar factories, with commercial establishments in Mudalagi and Hukkeri observing a total bandh. The protest, which entered its sixth day, spread across Belagavi, Bagalkot, Haveri and neighbouring districts, drawing support from opposition BJP, college students, and various farmer associations. Tuesday’s protests paralysed traffic on key routes, including the Belagavi-Gokak and Dharwad-Athani highways. Farmers blocked roads using excavators and tractors, while students joined them at intersections in Gokak and other towns. In Chikkodi and Athani, buses went off the roads, even as schools, colleges, and private offices remained closed. In Belagavi district, members of the Hasiru Sene Farmers Association rejected the Rs 3,200 per tonne price being offered by sugar mills, insisting on a minimum price of Rs 3,500. The association has also demanded that the Karnataka govt follow the Maharashtra payment model, whereby sugarcane farmers are paid between Rs 3,400 and Rs 3,500 per tonne, with payments settled within a 15-day timeframe. Hitting out at what he claimed as the state govt’s apathy, farmer leader Chunappa Pujari said: “We have been protesting for five days now, but no minister or Congress MLA who owns or manages sugar factories, has come to meet us. The leaders come only before for elections. We will no longer tolerate this and will teach these leaders a lesson for neglecting us.” BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, who joined the protesting farmers at Gurlapura village in Mudalagi taluk, criticised the govt’s silence. “The state govt should respond positively to the just demands. Unfortunately, the govt has shown no sensitivity to the farmers’ plight,” he said. “Despite farmers protesting on the streets for the last six days, ministers from this region, including the agriculture minister himself, have shown no concern. Sadly, chief minister Siddaramaiah seems to have become blind to their suffering,” Vijayendra further said. BJP ally JD(S), too, raised the pitch against the govt with an X post that accused the state govt of bowing before the sugar lobby. Meanwhile, home minister G Parameshwara, while warning of police action against the agitators if the situation wrosened, said he had told sugar minister Shivanand Patil to hold talks and fix a price to end the stalemate. “Ministers from the region, including Satish Jarkiholi and Laxmi Hebbalkar, have assured they will speak to representatives of sugar factories and find a solution,” he said. Weighing in on the issue, leader of the Opposition in the legislative assembly, R Ashoka of BJP, said in an X post: “Despite sugarcane farmers blocking highways and protesting for the past 5-6 days, this anti-farmer govt has remained unresponsive.” Taking a swipe at the CM, he further said: “Mr CM Siddaramaiah, where should these farmers go to express their pain — to you or to your deputy D K Shivakumar? Is your govt alive or dead? Where are your so-called strong leaders in Belagavi — the self-proclaimed heirs to Ahinda politics? Are they busy arranging funds for the Bihar elections or have they gone to Delhi to meet the high command?”
