BENGALURU: Amid murmurs of change in the CM in the state later this year, AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday said that the Congress high command will ultimately take a call on leadership change.
“On leadership change, our DyCM and KPCC president DK Shivakumar has already taken note of it. Somebody may have a desire, like a journalist can have a desire to become the editor, but ultimately the owner of the TV channel will select an editor. As of now, we have already spoken about it (leadership change). I don’t think it is an issue,” Surjewala told reporters when asked about some Congress legislators insisting on the change in CM.
On CM Siddaramaiah and DyCM DK Shivakumar travelling to New Delhi, Surjewala said that there was no bar on the duo visiting the national capital. “There is no injunction. They often visit Delhi to persuade the Union Government not to discriminate against Karnataka. The duo are doing their duty,” he added.
Surjewala said that he has asked those party MLAs who have issues to give it in writing. “We will settle the issues one by one,” he said.
Surjewala also held several rounds of talks with regard to Ballari politics on Tuesday.
Vijayanagara MLA H R Gaviyappa is said to have made a serious allegation against former minister B Nagendra, who is MLA from Ballari Rural. Surjewala met Gaviyappa twice, following which he called Nagendra for clarifications.
Later, Nagendra told reporters that he had given certain documents to Surjewala.
Nagendra had already met Surjewala on Monday and insisted on his reinduction as a minister, expecting a cabinet reshuffle in November, informed sources told TNIE. Nagendra resigned as minister for his alleged role in the multi-crore ST Corporation scam.
‘Centre betrayed tur farmers’
Surjewala criticised the Union Government’s policy of free duty import of tur dal (pigeon pea), which he said has sabotaged farmers economically in Karnataka and Maharashtra. “The Centre has not procured tur dal adequately through MSP and has not increased MSP either. Its policy of signing MoUs with Mozambique, Myanmar, and other countries on the import of pulses is a betrayal of Karnataka farmers,” the Congress leader said.
The Modi Government is importing a flood of cheap, low-quality goods from Myanmar, Tanzania, and Mozambique, besides Australia, and Canada, and has entered into a long-term MoU guaranteeing farmers of Mozambique the import of 2 lakh tonnes annually but has failed to purchase tur domestically produced by Karnataka, he said.
“The import is being kept duty-free to support farmers of foreign countries, while our own farmers suffer. Karnataka even has a GI Tag for Kalaburagi tur dal from August 14, 2019. The BJP’s step-motherly treatment towards Karnataka’s farmers and their produce, which is internationally recognised, is a grave injustice and has caused an annual loss of Rs 1,550 crores to Karnataka’s farmers. In 2024-25, MSP of tur was Rs 7,550 per quintal. In 2025-26, it is Rs 8,000 per quintal. In 2024-25, Karnataka’s farmers were forced to sell tur at Rs 6,000 per quintal as against the MSP of Rs 7,550. The total production of tur in Karnataka in 2024-25 was 10 lakh quintals,” he said.
He said that the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), in its 2025-26 report, acknowledged the Karnataka government’s representation that the actual cost of production was Rs 11,032 per quintal and that it had sought an MSP of Rs 16,548 per quintal. However, the Centre fixed the MSP at Rs 8,000 per quintal, Surjewala said. “Even this amount is barely being paid,” he said.