Minister H.K. Patil meeting sugarcane growers at Gurlapur Cross in Belagavi district on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: P.K. BADIGER
The protest by sugarcane farmers demanding higher price for their produce entered the seventh day in Belagavi on Wednesday.
B.Y. Vijayendra, BJP State president, joined the protest and spent the night with them on the road at Gurlapur Cross near Mudalagi. He also celebrated his 50th birthday with the protesters. He told Amit Shah, Union Home Minister who called to wish him, that he was with farmers on his birthday.
He said that the farmers were justified in demanding a price of ₹3,500 per tonne of sugarcane and that the ₹3,200 offered by factories was not acceptable. Mr. Vijayendra vowed not to leave the protest site till the State government declared a minimum support price of ₹3,500 per tonne and agree to all the other demands of farmers. Later, Mr. Vijayendra went to the KLESP hospital to meet Lakkappa Gunadal, a farmer who had drunk pesticide in front of Jagadish Shettar, MP, during the protest.
Chunappa Pujari, farmer leader, said that the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Hasiru Sene, Karnataka sugarcane growers’ association, and other organisations had decided to call for a Karnataka bandh on November 7.
“Already, several farmers’ organisations in Vijayapura and Bagalkot district have started protests to support our demands. This movement will spread to the whole State and the government will have to listen to us,” he said.
He demanded that Shivanand Patil, Sugar Minister, visit the site and give a concrete assurance that the demands would be met immediately. Mr. Pujari claimed that private and cooperative factories in Maharashtra had announced prices ranging from ₹3,400 to ₹3,600 per tonne, apart from cutting and transport charges.
Shashikant Guru of Inchigari Shakha Mutt, addressing the protesters, said that politicians of all parties had betrayed the trust of farmers.
“The Union government had only made a marginal increase of ₹15 in the fair and remunerative price of sugarcane compared to last year. The sugar and the ethanol industry are regulated by the Centre through various laws and rules. This decides their market price. Multi-State cooperative sugar factories in border districts like Belagavi are governed by Central laws. But the union government has not taken decisions in our favour. The State government has failed to enforce strict measurement of weight, calculation of sugar recovery and timely payment. The office of the Sugar Commissioner lacks real powers to take on sugar factory owners who are most likely to be politicians,” the seer said.
He urged farmers not to drop the protest midway, but to persist till their demands were met. He demanded that the State government should not allow factories to start crushing operations till the higher prices were announced.
Farmers continued to block the Nippani – Mudhol Road and the Daroor bridge on Wednesday. Commuters using the road suffered inconvenience and were forced to take alternative routes. Buses plying to and from Chikkodi, Athani and Mudalagi were reduced.
Members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike blocked the Pune- Bengaluru national highway near the Suvarna Soudha in support of the protest. Police whisked them away later.
Some members of the district Bar Association joined the protest in Gurlapur on Wednesday.
Published – November 05, 2025 07:07 pm IST
