Kalaburagi (Karnataka), Sep 29 (IANS) Karnataka BJP President and MLA, B.Y. Vijayendra, said on Monday that the Congress-led government should conduct the caste census but it must prioritise the farmers of the state.

Speaking to the media while hitting out at the state government, Vijayendra said, “Don’t play games with farmers. Announce relief immediately.”

He asked what the Agriculture Minister N. Chaluvarayaswamy, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, and District In-charge Ministers were doing.

“The in-charge minister here, Priyank Kharge, is always up in the sky and never comes down to the ground,” Vijayendra remarked.

Taking a jibe at Minister Kharge, State BJP President said, “The one who lectures the entire state should at least, in such situations, step down to the ground, visit farmers’ fields, and respond to their distress. The state government must take responsibility.”

“Farmers are now in a situation where they cannot cultivate the next crop. Their wounds are being rubbed with salt. The state government must wake up from its Kumbhakarna sleep and respond to farmers’ problems,” he added.

Responding to a query, Vijayendra said, “Talking about giving relief to farmers is far off. Is this (Congress) government even alive? What are the Agriculture, Revenue, and In-charge Ministers doing? Aren’t they all confined to Bengaluru?”

“I was supposed to be in Shikaripura today, and tomorrow in Hubballi. Just as the ruling party has duties, the Opposition also has responsibilities. If we don’t become the voice of farmers in their distress, this government is as good as dead. I am not doing politics here; I am urging the Chief Minister to please send your so-called great Ministers to the villages. Let them visit farmers’ fields. Seventy to eighty per cent of crops are destroyed. In many places, farmers aren’t even getting insurance,” he added.

“The Congress government in the state is a government of incompetents. When Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister, he single-handedly toured all the districts and provided relief to flood victims from the state on the model of NDRF. I am reminding all this so that at least now Siddaramaiah will wake up and respond,” he said.

“The NDRF funds will certainly be given by the Centre. But what is the state government doing? Don’t they have any responsibility?” Vijayendra asked.

He also said, “In Minister Priyank Kharge’s own constituency of Chittapur, farmers are demanding permanent relief. At least now the state government should understand and respond responsibly towards resolving farmers’ problems.”

Legislative Council Opposition leader, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, has said that the state’s development has come to a complete standstill and people are angry, while Ministers seem to be in a state of fear as though something might collapse upon them.

He added that the state government should have acted swiftly and decisively.

Narayanaswamy said that in some areas crops have been destroyed 100 per cent.

“State BJP President Vijayendra and local leaders have gone to the affected places to draw the government’s attention,” he said, adding that compensation to farmers must be given on priority.

Responding to a query, Narayanaswamy said that those in power should prioritise resolving the problems of the people.

“Vijayendra took a decision and we came here within a couple of days. In the same way, Ministers in charge of their respective districts should have gone there, discharged their responsibility, addressed the farmers’ problems, and ensured relief was given,” he remarked in response to another query.

When asked about Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s statement that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government would come to an end after the Bihar elections, Narayanaswamy replied, “Let him worry about his own situation. He is losing ground. Anyway, before elections they talk like this. Once the results come, they themselves change.”

–IANS

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