Bidadi Police Ban Tractor Rally as Farmers Vow to Proceed with Protest
The Bidadi police on Friday issued a formal notice denying permission for the 'Byramangala Chalo' tractor rally, setting up a potential showdown with farmers in Bidadi who vowed to proceed with their protest on Saturday morning. The rally, organised by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, was planned in solidarity with the long-running local agitation against a proposed township project in the area.
The police notice, served on Friday to K Ramanna, president of the Farmers Land and Welfare Protection Association, strictly banned the use of tractors to transport farmers and activists to the protest site. Authorities cited security protocols and potential law and order disruptions as reasons for the restriction, warning that any violation would result in stringent legal and police action.
The restriction triggered widespread outrage among local farmers, who accused the state administration of misusing police machinery to suppress a peaceful democratic movement. Despite the clampdown, organizers declared that the 'Byramangala Chalo' rally would go ahead as scheduled on Saturday morning. Over 1,000 farmer supporters from across Karnataka were expected to arrive in the region to participate.
Farmers rights activist Chukki Nanjundaswamy condemned the police action, calling it high-handedness. Nanjundaswamy stated that the protest would continue regardless of state intimidation, as farmers are fighting to save their livelihoods and fertile agricultural lands.
Yasvantha T, the state general secretary of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), also criticized the decision, calling the move explicitly "anti-farmer." He clarified that the organizers had formally requested permission to use tractors solely for logistics, specifically to transport arriving farmers safely from the railway station to the protest site. Yasvantha accused the government of using the police force to disrupt a peaceful assembly.
The tractor rally was organized to bolster an ongoing sit-in protest at Byramangala, which has reached its 482nd day. The agitation opposes the final notification issued by the government for the proposed Bidadi Smart City and township project.
The protest recently drew support from former Supreme Court judge Justice Santosh Hegde, who wrote a letter to the chief minister. In his letter, Justice Hegde urged the government to immediately drop the township project, warning that the forced acquisition of highly fertile multi-crop agricultural land would devastate the local farming ecosystem and harm agrarian rights.
