Karnataka CM turns farmer, sows paddy seedlings for bumper crop
Bengaluru, Aug 11: Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Saturday turned into a farmer to sow seeds for a bumper paddy crop at a farm at Aralakuppe village in Mandya district, about 100 km from here.
"I have joined my farmer brothers and sisters in sowing paddy seedlings hoping for a good crop," the Chief Minister said on the occasion.
Clad in a "dhoti" like a traditional farmer, Kumaraswamy got into a wet field and sowed the seedlings along with at least 100 other men and women farmers.
Claiming to hail from a farmer's' family, the Chief Minister assured the farmers his support and asked them not to commit suicide over failed crops.
"The Chief Minister joined the farmers in the sowing activity to give farmers hope and confidence," a statement from the Chief Minister's Office added.
The farm loans of over 20 lakh farmers will be waived off by the state soon, he told the farming community, amid chants by farmers and supporters calling him "Kumar anna" (Kumar brother), as he is dearly addressed in rural Karnataka.
The state cabinet has recently agreed to waive off additional crop loans to the tune of Rs 9,448-crore, apart from the Rs 34,000-crore worth loans from state co-operative banks that Kumaraswamy had announced to waive during his budget speech on July 5.
After the sowing activity, Kumaraswamy also had lunch with the farmers at the field.
As part of the old Mysuru region, Mandya, facing a rainfall deficit, still hopes to receive rains for a good agricultural output.
Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state President B.S. Yeddyurappa dubbed the Chief Minister's act a "stunt" and said the state has failed to waive crop loans so far and has not responded to farmers' issues.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
