Leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by party’s State president B.Y. Vijayendra, Opposition leaders R. Ashok, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, C.T. Ravi and others led a protest march highlighting farmers’ issues in Belagavi on Tuesday and subsequently courted arrest by trying to lay siege to the Suvarna Soudha.Earlier, addressing the protesters, Mr. Vijayendra alleged that “to cover up its failure” the Congress leaders were blaming the Centre. “The State government has cheated the sugarcane farmers on the issue of FRP. While FRP for sugarcane and MSP for maize is being given in other States, the Karnataka government has failed to even open procurement centres. For the fear of losing the yield, the farmers are being forced to sell it to middlemen putting them in further distress,” he alleged.MLC N. Ravikumar said while 54 lakh tonnes of maize was being grown in Karnataka, the present government was procuring just 5 lakh tonnes.Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy claimed that there was nothing pending with the Centre as it had already released whatever was to be released to the State. “Stop blaming Centre and if you are unable to run the government, then step down,” he said.Mr. Ravi alleged that while sugarcane was being procured in the neighbouring Maharashtra at an FRP of ₹3,600, the State government had failed to even to ensure the FRP fixed by the Central government putting the sugarcane farmers in distress.Mr. Ashok said the government had also failed to release crop loss compensation to the farmers affected by excess rains and floods. He claimed pro-farmer schemes and assistance extended by the previous BJP government had been stopped by the Congress government.The BJP protest and another protest by farmers seeking withdrawal of the three farm laws and fulfilment of other demands resulted in the service road being blocked for over an hour. The farmers relented only after Agriculture Minister Cheluvarayaswamy spoke to them and assured to visit the protest site.Published - December 09, 2025 07:24 pm IST