Bengaluru| Belagavi: Suddenly realising that there are districts in north Karnataka which are crying for attention, several cabinet ministers are frantically visiting Belagavi, Vijayapura and Raichur.
It isn’t because of an emergency in these districts. The ministers are aiming for the same goal: Try and pacify different groups who have threatened to disrupt the Belagavi legislature session due to start from December 9.
Faced with no alternative, Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah half-heartedly agreed to hold the Legislature session in Belagavi which is volatile particularly after sugarcane farmers decided to intensify their agitation. No sooner had the calender for the Belagavi session been announced than the CM rushed his ministers to meet the different groups and try to pacify them so that when the legislature session begins, nothing goes out of hand.
Mr Siddaramaiah had a bitter experience in Belagavi as one of the sugarcane farmers committed suicide last year when the legislature was in session. After reviewing law and order, home minister, K.J. George, who visited Belagavi last week, met representatives of Belagavi Bar Association who were on an indefinite strike and also threatned to gherao Suvarna Vidhan Soudha during the winter session. He also met sugarcane farmers.
Sugar minister, H.S. Mahadev Prasad who has rarely visited the district in the past, suddenly landed in Belagavi and held parleys with the representatives of sugarcane farmers. He failed to strike a compromise between growers and the managements over payment of the cane price of Rs 2500 per ton.
RDPR minister, H.K. Patil and food and civil supplies minister, Dinesh Gundu Rao too visited the districts. to review the performance of their departments and met lawyers and farmers. "For the last one year, the government promised to get Rs 2500 per ton for farmers.
The factories moved court and that provided an excuse to the government to sleep over the issue. Now, the government making noises may not convince farmers," an IAS officer said.
