<div>Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday demanded Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s apology for the lathicharge against farmers in Bengaluru.<br /><br />Addressing mediapersons here, he said the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the State is only proving that it is anti-farmer. “The lathicharge against the farmers of Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts, who were demanding irrigation facility for their land, is unfortunate. Technically, it may not be lathicharge, but can anybody deny that it was a brutal assault against the agitating farmers? The government should not stoop to the level of just issuing clarifications that it is not a lathicharge, but try to rectify its mistakes,” he said.<br /><br />He warned, “If the government does not respond positively to the farmers’ woes, the purpose of having a government is a failure. If such agitations and violence erupt in the society in future, the chief minister will be held responsible.”<br /><br />Yeddyurappa said, “Siddaramaiah should have held a meeting with farmers’ representatives and tried to solve the problems as soon as he got reports that the farmers were having problems and that they were planning to stage a protest, instead of suppressing their movement.”<br /><br />When his attention was drawn towards the statement of Siddaramaiah that he did not have the need to learn a lesson from BJP, which is notorious for its shooting orders against farmers, Yeddyurappa said, “Instead of recalling the deeds of the previous governments, the chief minister should tell what he is doing for the welfare of the farmers now.”<br /><br />He said, “The chief minister is losing confidence of his own party legislators. More than 50 per cent of MLAs did not attend the dinner hosted by him recently. The watch issue has demoralised the MLAs. KPCC President G Parameshwara has reported that the party has faced a setback in the watch issue. Handing over of the watch to the Speaker itself proves that the chief minister has erred.” <br /></div>
<div>Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday demanded Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s apology for the lathicharge against farmers in Bengaluru.<br /><br />Addressing mediapersons here, he said the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the State is only proving that it is anti-farmer. “The lathicharge against the farmers of Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts, who were demanding irrigation facility for their land, is unfortunate. Technically, it may not be lathicharge, but can anybody deny that it was a brutal assault against the agitating farmers? The government should not stoop to the level of just issuing clarifications that it is not a lathicharge, but try to rectify its mistakes,” he said.<br /><br />He warned, “If the government does not respond positively to the farmers’ woes, the purpose of having a government is a failure. If such agitations and violence erupt in the society in future, the chief minister will be held responsible.”<br /><br />Yeddyurappa said, “Siddaramaiah should have held a meeting with farmers’ representatives and tried to solve the problems as soon as he got reports that the farmers were having problems and that they were planning to stage a protest, instead of suppressing their movement.”<br /><br />When his attention was drawn towards the statement of Siddaramaiah that he did not have the need to learn a lesson from BJP, which is notorious for its shooting orders against farmers, Yeddyurappa said, “Instead of recalling the deeds of the previous governments, the chief minister should tell what he is doing for the welfare of the farmers now.”<br /><br />He said, “The chief minister is losing confidence of his own party legislators. More than 50 per cent of MLAs did not attend the dinner hosted by him recently. The watch issue has demoralised the MLAs. KPCC President G Parameshwara has reported that the party has faced a setback in the watch issue. Handing over of the watch to the Speaker itself proves that the chief minister has erred.” <br /></div>
