BJP Raitha Morcha members staging a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Belagavi on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: P.K. BADIGER
BJP members stage a protest in Belagavi on Wednesday against the State government’s failure to ensure proper urea supply to farmers. Party leaders said that there has been a large-scale diversion of urea to the black market and that some Ministers and leaders of the ruling party are behind this.
The protestors rode bullock carts and tractors from Rani Chennamma Circle to the Deputy Commissioner’s office. They raised slogans against the Congress government saying that it is following anti-farmer policies. They sat in protest in front of the office for some time.
BJP Raitha Morcha president A.S. Patil Nadahalli said that the Union government has provided adequate stocks of fertilisers but the State government has failed to distribute them properly.
He said that a large portion of government stocks have been diverted to the black market where unscrupulous traders are selling them at a premium.
He said that the demand for urea has been low in the last few years due to a rainfall deficit of 30%-40%. But, this year, the rainfall has been good and urea demand has naturally risen. Farming activities have picked up pace. But the State government has failed to ensure proper availability of urea. The State government is blind to the fact that urea is being diverted and sold in black. I have information that Ministers are not just oblivious to this but also are actively involved in this malpractice,” he said.
He said that the quality of seeds distributed to farmers through the Agriculture Department has remained poor in the last two years. “This has caused huge losses to farmers whose demand for compensation has not been fulfilled. Spurious seed and fertiliser companies have mushroomed in the State. Their only aim is to bleed the farmers dry. Agriculture Minister N. Chaluvarayaswamy does not understand a thing about agriculture. He was supposed to visit various districts to check the crop and sowing pattern but has limited himself to Bengaluru and his native district of Mandya,” he said.
“Farmers have been facing injustice ever since the Congress came to power in the State. It has suspended various schemes like the Raitha Vidyanidhi Yojana, subsidy for agricultural equipment and support price for millet cultivation and others. The State government is not giving its share to the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana,” he said.
He said that the Union government has provided the required quantity of urea fertiliser to the State during the monsoon season. “However, more than 2 lakh tonnes of fertiliser is being sold in black. Due to this, farmers are struggling to maintain their crops,” he said.
“Farmers are facing shortage of urea fertiliser during this monsoon season. The State requires 12.88 lakh tonnes of urea during the monsoon season. Out of this, the Centre has allocated 11.73 lakh tonnes based on available stock. Already, 8.73 lakh tonnes have been supplied. But only 5.27 lakh tonnes have reached farmers. The rest has gone to black marketeers,” he said.
The former MLAs Sanjay Patil, V.I. Patil, Mahantesh Doddagoudar, party’s rural district unit president Subhash Patil, city unit president Geeta Sutar, leaders M.B. Zirali, Murughendragouda Patil, Mahantesh Vakkund and others were present.
Published – July 30, 2025 08:49 pm IST
