Former Union Minister and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday blasted Rahul Gandhi and the Siddaramaiah government for the deaths of nearly 1200 farmers in Karnataka. He said this happened due to Congress and Gandhi's economic "mismanagement and looting" in the southern state.
"Meanwhile people in Karnataka die due to Rahuls Cong Economic mismanagement and Loot," he said while commenting on a report by India Today.
The Congress returned to power in Karnataka in May 2023.
India Today reported on July 8 that as many as 1,182 farmers died by suicide over the span of the last 15 months in Karnataka. The data was shared by the state's revenue department. The prime causes cited by the revenue department for these suicides included severe drought, crop loss, and overwhelming debt.
While Chandrasekhar did not elaborate, he may been hinting at Rahul Gandhi's repeated announcements of farm loan waivers. Ahead of the assembly elections and then general elections, Rahul Gandhi had promised a farm loan waiver in Karnataka.
Most of the farmer suicides in Karnataka came in three districts of Belagavi, Haveri, and Dharwad, which reported 122, 120, and 101 such cases respectively.
Chikkamagalur reported 89 farmer suicides, Kalaburgi reported 69 and Yadagiri saw 68 such instances during the same period. Of the 27 districts where farmers took the extreme step owing to various factors, only six reported farmer suicide cases in single digits. The remaining 21 districts witnessed 30 farmer suicide cases or more.
Last September, Karnataka minister Shivanand Patil sparked a controversy by saying that the number of farmer suicides in the state had increased after the government raised the compensation to Rs 5 lakh that was provided to the families of the deceased. He backed his statement by explaining that this compensation was claimed by families of farmers who died by suicide due to financial distress resulting from crop losses and inability to repay loans.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said such people who commited suicide 'for their own reasons' could not be called farmers. "Where are the suicides? Tell me. People who commit suicide for their own reasons, can we call them farmers? It’s all false," he said
(With inputs from Sagay Raj)