Mammoth protest by Karnataka sugarcane farmers calls for invitation to Delhi for talks

Thousands of sugarcane growers from across Karnataka and the neighboring states of Maharashtra and Telangana staged a massive protest at Kittur Chennamma Circle in Hubballi on Tuesday, demanding remunerative prices for sugarcane and revision of the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar. | Photo credit: KIRAN BAKALE

After their 3:00 PM deadline, the protesters marched towards the residence of Union Minister for Education, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi and some of them managed to break the police barricades and entered his residence to continue their protest.

A video message from minister Pralhad Joshi calling for action in Delhi and efforts to convince the protesting farmers to call off the protest continued till late evening as the protesters initially made it clear that they would not go to Delhi and wanted the minister to come and talk to them in Dharwad.

Commissioner of Police Bhushan Borase, IGP Northern Range Sandeep Patil, Deputy Commissioner Dharwad Snehal R. tried their best to convince them to call off the protest till evening. Subsequently, MLA Mahesh Tenginakai and MR Patil approached the farmers’ leaders and convinced them to call off the protest, promising to take a delegation of 30 farmers to New Delhi to negotiate with the union minister. They assured them that since the polling code of conduct was in force, they would not be able to hold the meeting in Dharwad and assured them that the delegation would be taken to Delhi on October 10 and they would bear all their expenses. As a result, the farmers proceeded to the Nehru Stadium before returning to their respective seats.

The agitation was organized by Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene and farmers from sugarcane growing areas of Karnataka and neighboring states came in thousands to register their protest and press for their demands. Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha president and Hasiru Sene office bearer Chunappa Pujeri, Inchageri Mutt spiritual leader of Belagavi Shashikanth Guruji and others led the protest.

Farmer leaders at a rally in Kittur Chennamma Circle had earlier demanded that the sugarcane price for the 2026-27 crushing season be fixed at ₹5,500 per tonne. They also sought an increase in the minimum selling price of sugar from the existing ₹31 per kg to ₹60 per kg. The protesters alleged that the Center had failed to revise the sugar MSP for several years.

The farmers also demanded an increase in the purchase price of ethanol, permission for sugar mills to sell their entire ethanol production, clearance of pending sugarcane dues and implementation of the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan Commission.

After starting a protest at Chennamma Circle in Hubballi, the farmers’ leaders made it clear that they were not happy with Union Minister Pralhad Joshi’s video message and demanded a clear statement from him on their demand by 3 pm, failing which they would march to seize his headquarters. As there was no further message from the union minister, the farmers started marching towards Mr. Joshi’s residence in Mayuri Estate. As a precautionary measure, the police set up roadblocks on the route. However, some angry farmers broke them and marched to his residence, where a huge posse of police prevented them from taking over his residence. Another large group of farmers was stopped by the police at Ramesh Bhavan and it took a lot of effort by officials and legislators to convince them to finally withdraw their protest.

Traffic jam

Due to the day-long protest and the blockade of Kittur Chennamma Circle and other roads, the city witnessed traffic jams on several alternate roads for several hours and motorists struggled to reach their destinations.

Published – 30 Sep 2026 0:55 AM IST