Return Tumkur seat to Cong if Gowda is not contesting: Parameshwar urges Deve Gowda
Bengaluru, Mar 15: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara Friday said he has requested the JD(S) to return Tumkur seat to the Congress if former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is not contesting from the constituency.
The development comes amid simmering discontent within the Congress's local leadership over ceding of Tumkur seat to the alliance partner.
Parameshwara, who has held a series of meetings with the Congress and JD(S) leaders, however, said his party was fine if the latter fields Gowda from the seat.
The seat is held by the Congress's S P Muddahanumegowda.
"We have a sitting MP. In principle, during our screening committee meeting, we had made a resolution that all the 10 sitting MPs should be given (tickets). After that, during meetings between Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda, Tumkur was given to them," the deputy chief minister said.
Speaking to reporters here, Parameshwara said he had met Gowda and conveyed his request that the seat be given back to the Congress as it won't be right to deny a ticket to the Tumkur MP when all the other sitting lawmakers were getting one.
"I met Deve Gowda last night and requested him. I have also informed our leadership. Today morning I have also requested the chief minister (H D Kumaraswamy) to leave the seat for us. He (Kumaraswamy) said he will discuss (it with his party leaders)," he said.
According to a deal finalised between the coalition partners on Wednesday after much haggling, the Congress will contest 20 and the JD(S) will contest eight of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The JD(S) will field its candidates from Uttara Kannada, Chikmagalur, Shimoga, Tumkur, Hassan, Mandya, Bangalore North and Bijapur seats.
The deputy chief minister said if need be, he will even meet the party high command on the matter.
Parameshwara, who is also the Tumkur district in-charge minister, said, "If Gowda contests, we all will work together for his victory as he is a tall leader... if he doesn't contest, give the seat to us, (that) is our request," he said, after meeting senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
According to JD(S) sources, the party bagged Tumkur constituency, dominated by the Vokkaliga community -- a major vote bank, after a hard bargain as the Congress had decided not to cede the seats currently held by it.
There is simmering discontent within the Congress's Tumkur unit over the decision, with former legislator K N Rajanna reportedly threatening to contest as an independent if the party fails to renegotiate.
Meanwhile, state Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah told reporters that he will speak to party president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary K C Venugopal on the issue.
Muddahanumegowda said he has also requested that the seat be given back to the Congress.
"If Deve Gowda contests, there is no issue; it will be a matter of pride for us. Else, give it to me... I have made this request to Kharge, Gowda and the CM, I'm hopeful," he said.
Amid doubts about Gowda contesting polls, his constituency has not yet been finalised by JD(S).
Reports suggest that he may contest either from Tumkur or Bangalore North.
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Farmer whose poultry business gave him wings to fly high gets invitation to talk at Oxford varsity
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Nagpur (PTI): A farmer in Maharashtra, who once could not afford to buy clothes but gradually built an empire of poultry business with an annual turnover running into crores, has been invited to share his insights as an agri-entrepreneur at the University of Oxford.
Ravindra Manikrao Metkar, 57, who belongs to Mhasala Anjangaon Bari village in Amravati district, has been invited to speak at the Global Research Conference to be hosted at the University of Oxford in the UK from May 1 to 5 with "AI for Every Mind" as its theme.
The conference is being organised by the Global Economic Forum (GEF) in collaboration with the university.
An invitation letter sent by the organisers to Metkar says, "Considering your experience and contributions as an Indian Agri Entrepreneur, your presence and insights will be highly valuable to the discussions and collaborative exchanges during the conference."
Metkar launched his poultry farming venture from the terrace of his house in 1984, when he was still studying in junior college. He started with Rs 3,000 that he received from his father, who served as a Class IV employee in the forest department. His humble poultry farm then had only 100 birds.
After completing his master's degree in commerce, his mother received four acres of land from her mother at Chandurbazar in Amravati. The family then sold that land and bought one acre of land at Badnera in the district.
Talking to PTI, Metkar said he took a loan of Rs 5 lakh from a bank and started a poultry farm with 4,000 birds. By 2006, the business grew by leaps and bounds, as there were 20,000 birds in the farm spread over an area of 10 acres in Mhasala Anjangaon Bari village.
However, he suffered a major setback that year as the bird flu hit several countries, including India, on a large scale, bringing his business to a standstill.
But notwithstanding the losses, he decided to start once again. In 2008, he dived into the business with a renewed vigour by taking a loan of Rs 25 lakh from a bank. His poultry farm then had 20,000 birds.
"There was no looking back after that as 10,000 birds started getting added to the farm annually," he said.
"At present, we do not have any bank loan, and there are now 1.8 lakh birds at our poultry farm spread over 50 acres of land with an annual turnover of Rs 15 crore," the farmer said.
He said that he was also involved in the cultivation of fruit crops such as banana, mango, orange, sweet lime, sapodilla and coconut, apart from wheat and corn.
"With innovative and natural farming methods that involve the use of organic fertilisers, we do farming with comparatively less input costs and earn high profits," he said.
His two brothers and his older son, who has studied agriculture business management and is now pursuing an MBA, help him in his poultry business and agriculture, while his youngest son has earned a master's degree in Computer Engineering from a foreign university.
Metkar said that he has now stopped increasing the number of his birds in his poultry farm and guides other farmers in allied farming activities, as he wants the members of the farming community to move forward.
He has been invited by various agriculture colleges across India and abroad to share his success story and guide agriculture students and farmers.
So far, he has delivered talks at Singapore University, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Jammu, Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University (MAFSU) in Nagpur, Indian Institute of Technology Bhilai, Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), among others.
"At one time, I did not have proper clothes and used to wear torn clothes that were stitched at home, and did not have a bicycle to go to college," Metkar said.
"I had never imagined that I would get a chance to go to Oxford University and share my success story!" he added.
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