Members of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha staged a protest by blocking traffic on some State highways and district main roads in Belagavi district on Friday. The roads included Jatt-Jamboti State highway in Khanapur and some places in Yamakanamaradi and rural Belagavi.
They raised slogans against the Union government for amendments to the APMC Act, Essential Commodities Act and the new contract farming rules. They also raised slogans against the State government alleging that its amendments to the Karnataka Land Reforms Act removed land ceilings and allowed corporate companies to buy land.
Leaders said that they would continue to agitate till the amendments were withdrawn. KPCC working president Satish Jarkiholi said that the Congress expressed its support to the protest by farmers. However, the Congress would organise a separate set of protests about these vital laws across the country and the State.
In Vijayapura, police stopped the weekly farmers’ market on Solapur road following the announcement by farmers’ organisations that they would block the Solapur-Vijayapura road in protest against the farm bills. The police did not allow farmers to block the highway. They submitted a memorandum to the government and dispersed.
