Rajya Raitha Sangha, Hasiru Sene condemn Madhuswamy

Taking objection to Law Minister J C Madhuswamy abusing a farmer leader in Kolar, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene have condemned the incident.

Speaking to DH, Raitha Sangha’s senior leader K T Gangadhar said that the farmers’ association held a discussion on Thursday to decide the future course of action.

“What Madhuswamy said was not a slip of tongue, for it to be overlooked with an apology. He knew what he was talking. This is not the first time that he has exhibited such behaviour. Coming from grassroot activism background himself, it is unfortunate that the minister spoke in such a manner towards a fellow activist,” Gangadhar said. At the outset, it appeared that the minister was acting at the behest of vested interests, he alleged.

Speaking about how she handled the situation in a composed manner, Nalini Gowda told DH that she drew strength from the fact that she had a specific issue to convey despite feeling humiliated by the minister’s reaction.

“I had my facts in place and I wanted to convey a specific problem affecting the region. I was not speaking about my personal issues. About 200 acres of the S Amanikere in Kolar has been encroached. The problem needs to be resolved as people in the region do not have other water sources,” she said.