Chalavadi Narayanaswamy claimed that the total extent of agricultural land affected by heavy rains was 38.71 lakh hectares, while the government figure was only 14.58 lakh hectares. | Photo credit:
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress engaged in a heated debate in the Legislative Council on Tuesday over relief to farmers who suffered losses due to heavy rains.
While members on the opposition benches accused the state government of ignoring the plight of farmers, members on the treasury benches alleged that the BJP was politicizing the issue instead of responding to farmers’ problems.
Leader of Opposition Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said the state government’s assessment of crop loss due to heavy rains was wrong. The BJP, he claimed, had collected information from farmers and the total extent of agricultural land affected by heavy rains was 38.71 lakh hectares, while the government’s figure was only 14.58 lakh hectares.
Former minister CT Ravi claimed that while there were 85,000 cases of crop loss due to wildlife, the government released relief in only 35,000 cases. He also objected to the suspension of state grants under Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana. “When the BJP was in power, the state contributed ₹4,000, in addition to ₹6,000 from the Centre. The government should have continued the contribution for the benefit of farmers,” he said.
He further said that Karnataka ranks second in the country in terms of farmer suicides. In the last two years, 2,422 farmers committed suicide and the government released compensation for 941 families.
He pointed out that young people from farming families do not get brides for marriage. “Recently Mutt invited applications for marriage appointment and received 60,000 applications from farm families. The situation is bleak and shows the plight of farm families,” he added.
During the debate, Leader of the House NS Boseraju, Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy, Sugar Minister Shivanand Patil, Labor Minister Santosh Lad and other Congress members came forward to allege that BJP leaders were politicizing the issue. They had no moral right to question the state government’s commitment to farmers’ welfare as they had never raised their voice against the Center’s injustice, they argued.
Ministers and members of the Congress party raised a strong objection when Mr. Ravi remarked that the Congress government in the state had opened a “maize procurement centre” instead of maize procurement centres, citing a leadership tussle in the ruling party.
The state government is expected to respond to the debate on Wednesday.
Published – 09 Dec 2025 21:37 IST
