CM Invites Protesting Farmers for Talks Over Bidadi Township Project

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday invited representatives of farmers protesting against the proposed Bidadi Township project for talks at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, after demonstrations crossed 540 days.

The invitation from the Chief Minister's Office came after farmers, who had been staging demonstrations at Bairamangala Circle for over 540 days, brought their protest to Freedom Park in Bengaluru and announced plans to lay siege to Vidhana Soudha.

Yashavantha T., State general secretary of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), stated that the Chief Minister’s Office invited 25 representatives of the protesting farmers for the discussion. The representatives belong to Samyukta Horata Karnataka and the Bairamangala-Kanchugaranahalli Horata Samithi.

The delegation scheduled to meet the Chief Minister at Vidhana Soudha includes farmer leaders Badagalapura Nagendra and Chukki Nanjundaswamy, Melukote MLA Darshan Puttannaiah, and farmers from nine villages that are facing land acquisition for the proposed project.

The primary demand put forward by the farmers is that the Bidadi Township project be dropped entirely. The protesting groups have also demanded an immediate halt to the land acquisition process, which commenced after the final notification was issued.

Furthermore, the farmers have demanded that if the state government proceeds with a survey through a committee, the panel must include representation from different fields.