Bengaluru: The BJP’s Ballari Chalo padayatra entered its fifth day Saturday, with the party stepping up its attack on chief minister DK Shivakumar over the govt’s handling of drought and farmers’ problems.The 22-km march began in Karatagi and ended at Jangamarakalgudi in Koppal district. Marking Teacher’s Day, senior BJP functionaries also felicitated retired teachers in Karatagi.BJP state president BY Vijayendra took aim at Shivakumar’s aerial survey of drought-hit areas, saying farmers’ problems could not be understood from the air. “Mr CM, the tears of farmers who have lost their crops to drought won’t be visible from a helicopter. To understand the plight of parched land and the struggling farmer, one must be on the ground, among the people!” Vijayendra said.Opposition leader in the legislative assembly R Ashoka, meanwhile, accused Shivakumar of shifting the responsibility for farm loan waivers to the Centre. He demanded that the state govt take the initiative to waive farmers’ loans.In a post on X, Ashoka said, “Earlier, state govts, including those led by your own party in Karnataka, had waived farmers’ loans whenever necessary and come to their aid. But today, pointing towards the Centre to escape responsibility is shameful.”Ashoka also questioned the Congress govt over promises made in its 2023 assembly election manifesto, including the proposed Rs 1.5 lakh crore Krishi Sarvodaya Nidhi, a Rs 5,000 crore permanent natural calamity fund and interest-free agricultural loans of Rs 3 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.“I have not visited drought-hit areas only by helicopter. I observed the agricultural lands in this region while travelling. But the opposition criticises this. Our belief is that criticism will die, but our work will remain,” said DK Shivakumar, chief minister.
