Karnataka sugarcane farmers rejected Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s appeal to suspend their agitation and announced that they would resume their padayatra towards Hubballi on Sunday after the government did not announce the ₹1,000-per-tonne state incentive they are demanding.
The decision was taken at Rani Channamma Circle in Kittur, Belagavi district, where a large number of farmers had gathered. Shivakumar told the protesters that their concerns had reached the state legislature and Parliament, and asked them to allow time for discussions with Union ministers after Dasara.
“Your problems have reached the Vidhana Soudha and Parliament. I care about you. I have come here on my own even though you did not call me,” Shivakumar said, according to Prajavani. He also said he would invite Union ministers and the farmers to Belagavi for discussions after Dasara, adding that the issues could not be resolved by him alone and that more time was needed.
The appeal did not persuade the protesters. Chunnappa Pujeri, president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, said the farmers would seek a minimum support price of ₹60 for sugar and complete procurement of ethanol from the Centre. Their demands from the state government include a ₹1,000 incentive for every tonne of sugarcane, compensation of ₹50,000 per acre for drought-affected farmers, 12 hours of daytime electricity and a complete farm loan waiver.
Pujeri said the mobilisation was not intended merely to obtain an assurance. “We are not conducting this padayatra just because an assurance would be enough. We will secure the MSP,” he said, according to the report. Farmers waved green towels and raised slogans in support of the demands.
The protest leadership also discussed continuing the agitation at Gurlapur Cross in Mudalagi taluk after the padayatra. Shashikant Guruji, honorary president of the state farmers’ association and Hasiru Sene, urged the farmers to respect Shivakumar’s decision to come to the protest site and asked him to announce the incentive at Gurlapur. The farmers rejected that proposal as well.
Pujeri later said the farmers would hold a dharna in Kittur until 3 p.m. on Sunday and demanded that Union Minister Pralhad Joshi come to the site before then. If he did not, the farmers would move towards Hubballi, he said. The report also said that the protest leadership referred to a High Court order concerning an agitation in Hubballi and stated that the farmers would respect the court’s decision while continuing their mobilisation on the national highway.
The farmers’ demands involve both state and central responsibilities. Their stated claims include a sugar price of ₹60, full ethanol procurement and a ₹500 additional payment from sugar factories, alongside the state-funded incentive. Shivakumar left the platform after speaking to the gathering, accompanied by ministers Santosh Lad, Laxman Savadi and Satish Jarkiholi and several legislators. The next immediate milestone is the farmers’ announced Sunday afternoon deadline at Kittur and their proposed onward movement towards Hubballi.
