Nikhil Kumaraswamy
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: The JD(S) has called for an indefinite stir, starting Sunday, to protest the state government’s Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) project in Bidadi.
JD(S) Youth Wing president Nikhil Kumaraswamy on Sunday said that the party would fight alongside the farmers to compel the government to drop the project. “Our protest will go on till the state government agrees to drop the project,” said Nikhil, adding that both former prime minister Deve Gowda and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy would address the protesting farmers, albeit virtually, on Sunday.
Accusing the Congress government of being ‘anti-farmer’, Nikhil pointed out that nearly 80% of the farmers who would lose their land to the project were opposed to it. He added, “We condemn the injustice being meted out to the farmers.”
The JD(S) leader questioned the government’s failure to order a social and environmental survey before going ahead with the project. Nikhil further alleged that officials from the Greater Bengaluru Development Authority (GBDA) and cops were threatening farmers to part with their land.
Citing the thousand-day stir by farmers at Channarayapatna in Devanahalli, Nikhil said, “Similarly, JD(S) will fight the government here. We will take this to its logical end.”
Nikhil urged the government to successfully execute a pilot project on the 900-acre land parcel acquired by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB). Nikhil also pointed to GBDA’s lack of experience in this domain as being another sore point in the entire affair.
The JD(S) leader sought to know if Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had convened a meeting with the local farmers. “Why is this project being rushed? What is the hidden motive? Does the government have any idea as to what this project will do to the farmers,” asked Nikhil.