Mysuru: Folk songs were sung and entire villages were decorated with strings of mango leaves and flowers on Friday as Chief Minister H D Kumarswamy arrived in a procession in a bullock cart flanked by cultural troupes at a paddy field where he offered pooja to Mother Earth some 13 kms from Pandavapura taluk in Mandya district.
The Chief Minister, who had participated in sowing paddy over five acres of land belonging to four families by planting a sapling here on August 11, was back again to be a part of the harvesting of the crop.
While Mandya district minister, C S Puttaraju cut the paddy and handed it to him, he offered pooja to it. As the paddy over three acres was already cut using machines, the remaining paddy over two acres was cut by 30 women and 40 men after the Chief Minister inaugurated the process Friday evening.
Farmers, who reaped over 40 to 45 quintals of paddy from the five acres, hosted a harvest festival to celebrate the occasion and Mr Kumaraswamy offered pooja to the crop harvested and heaped with decorations in the fields. Appealing to the farmers not to lose hope and have patience, he promised to resolve all their problems. “I shall not continue in politics if Rs 45,000 crore in farm loan is not waived off,” he declared.
The CM announced that centres would be set up all over the state to buy paddy and the government would purchase each quintal at a cost of Rs 1, 850. He later enjoyed some sweet pongal along with the 3,000 people who had gathered for the event.
