TUMAKURU: Farmer-related issues, like amendments to the Land and APMC Acts, are likely to be the focus in this byelection to the Sira Assembly constituency. Two decades ago too, issues concerning farmers had led to the death of five ryots in police firing in this historic town. Then Labour Minister B Sathyanarayana, whose death has necessitated the bypoll now, had offered to resign from the J H Patel cabinet after the tragic incident.
But 22 years down the line, the situation has not changed much for farmers in this arid zone, which is the groundnut bowl of the country.On October 28, 1998, some traders and oil mill owners tried to manipulate the APMC in Sira and purchase groundnut for as low as Rs 200 per quintal when the actual price was around Rs 1,000. Farmers launched a flash protest and Circle Police Inspector B S Saiprakash (43), who tried to bring the situation under control, was lynched by the mob.
The police opened fire on the protesters, killing five farmers. It was later said that the Matka gambling mafia, which was active in the town, was upset with the strict police officer and used the protest as a cover to see his end. Now, Sira is facing the bypoll because of the untimely death of Sathyanarayana, and his wife Ammajamma is the JDS candidate. The Congress has fielded T B Jayachandra and the BJP Dr C M Rajesh Gowda, son of three-time Chitradurga MP C P Mudalagiriyappa.
Ironically, these three families have been in the power game for almost four decades now, and the electorate, mostly farmers, don’t have any choice but to elect one among them. But an independent, Thimmarayi Gowda, a representative of Groundnut Growers’ Forum, said, “In Sira, groundnut is grown in 38,500 acres. We had demanded a minimum support price of Rs 6,000 per quintal. Since no political party responded to farmers’ pleas, I decided to contest.”
“The price of groundnuts is not justifiable as the production cost has gone up. No protests were held even though there were three ant-farmers bills introduced and also the APMC act amended,” Gomaradahalli Manjunath, a resident. This year, the Centre has declared a minimum support price of Rs 5,275 per quintal of groundnut the Karnataka Oil Federation procures. But farmers are unable to meet the standards, as the quality of their produce is not up to the mark because of heavy rains. Farmers are going to the open market and disposing of groundnuts for Rs 2,500-Rs 3,500 per quintal.