BENGALURU: A 25-member delegation comprising farmers from Bidadi, farmer leader Chukki Nanjundaswamy, Badagalpura Nagendra, T Yashvanth, Noor Sridhar, SR Hiremath, and others met Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday over the controversial 7,000-acre Bidadi Township project, for which the government is planning land acquisition. The farmers say that since they got an appointment with the CM, the plan to lay siege to Vidhana Soudha was dropped.
“The CM said he is not forcing anyone to give up land and will not even attempt to issue a denotification order. But we will continue our protest as we want the government to cancel the project. The delegation also requested the CM to add experts in the field of farming, environment, and social impact in the review committee. The CM has agreed to this,” Mandalahalli Nagaraj, a farmer leader, said.
Yashvanth T, from Karnataka Prantha Raita Sangha, said the meeting offered hope as this is the first time protesting farmers were allowed to meet the CM. The delegation placed the demand to cancel the project, to which the CM said he would not allow any denotification of land and asked the farmers to approach court to get the project cancelled.
The farmers said till there is an official announcement for cancellation of the township project, the protest at Byramangala Circle will continue.