CM to confer with farmer leaders today; to meet PM

As the farmers' agitation intensified in north Karnataka demanding Rs 3,500 per tonne for sugarcane, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the Centre decides the Fair and Remunerative Price Fixation and not the state.

The CM has called for a meeting with farmer leaders on Friday and also said that he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss issues faced by the farmers. He said the Centre is responsible for the Minimum Support Price regulation on sugar, which is Rs 31 per kg.

"The FRP fixation is done by the Centre and not us. Every year, it is done by the Centre. This year too, they did it on May 6," the CM told reporters here.

"The farmers are misled. Despite the Centre having more role in the FRP fixation, the opposition is playing politics. I appeal to farmers not to succumb to the opposition’s statements," he said.

The CM said he has convened a meeting on Friday from 11 am to 1 pm with all the sugar factory owners in Bengaluru, where he will discuss farmers agitation and their demand for more FRP. His next meeting from 1 pm will be with the farmer leaders from Haveri, belagavi, Bagalkote and Vijayapura.

Siddaramaiah said he would also seek an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the farmers’ agitation.