Raitha Sangha plans to enter political mainstream

Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha will be revived and converted into a political outfit, said KRRS leader Kodihalli Chandrashekhar here on Monday.

Speaking to reporters, he said the Sangha would field its candidates in at least 50 constituencies in the next election to the legislative assembly. The Sangha is also open to having tie-ups with political parties. A final decision would be taken in this regard at a later stage, he asserted.

As a prelude to converting the Sangha into a political party, KRRS will take out a Raitha Ratha Yatre in the last week of January 2012. Later, in association with farmers’ organisations in other state, it will take out Raitha Ratha Yatre from Kanyakumari to New Delhi, Kodihalli said.

He opposed the FDI in retail sector and also condemned the state government’s move to sign MoUs with multinational corporations for investment in agriculture sector. Referring to chief minister Sadananda Gowda’s statement that the state government had attracted an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore during the Global Investors Meet to agriculture sector, Kodihalli said it would mean handing over a major portion of agricultural land to the global corporations and urged the government to withdraw the agreements. He said, the BJP which is fighting FDI in retail sector should make its stand clear vis-à-vis foreign investment in agriculture sector in Karnataka. Stating that record production of foodgrains in the country to the tune of 260 million tonnes had not helped farmers as they were still caught in a debt trap in the absence of remunerative prices for the produce. The government should waive all the loans of the farmers, he urged.