Bengaluru: The proposed Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township Project near Bidadi, Ramanagara, has sparked massive farmer protests, with villagers declaring they will not part with their land. The agitation has now taken a sharp political turn, bringing the JDS and BJP into confrontation with the Congress government.
Farmers staged demonstrations in Byramangala village, raising slogans that they would rather “give their lives than give their land.” JDS youth leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy joined the protests, warning of a padayatra to Bengaluru if the government proceeds with land acquisition. He accused Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar of threatening farmers and declared, “You may thump your chest today, but tomorrow farmers have the power to break it.”
Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy too extended his support via video conference, directly attacking Shivakumar. “Your days of freedom are numbered. The way you have acted against our family and the people of Ramanagara will not go unchallenged. JDS cannot be finished,” he warned, alleging that Shivakumar could face jail time.
The state government had issued a preliminary notification for land acquisition in March, covering nearly 2,000 acres. Farmers, however, have rejected the plan outright. JDS has now formally thrown its weight behind the agitation, escalating tensions between the opposition and the ruling Congress.
The political heat has risen further after a heated exchange between farmers and Shivakumar during a protest at the Ramanagara DC office, where the Deputy CM was accused of dismissing farmers’ concerns.
The township project, which traces its roots back to HD Kumaraswamy’s pilot initiative in 2006 and Siddaramaiah’s 2016 smart city plan covering 38 villages, is now at the centre of a political showdown and a farmers’ resistance movement.
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