BJP in K'taka to take delegation to Centre

Mangalore, Oct 20 (UNI) A delegation of BJP leaders, under the leadership of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, will visit Delhi during the first week of November to meet Ministers and discuss about the crisis arising out of the decision to ban gutka, encourage machine-made beedis, discourage manual rolling of beedies, besides the delay in commencing railway service to Hassan.

Addressing a joint press conference here today, BJP State President D V Sadananda Gowda, district incharge Ministers of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada Dr V S Acharya and B Nagaraja Shetty said the decision to ban gutka had not only led to crash in the price of arecanut, but also pushed arecanut growers to resort to extreme steps. The decision to ban man-made beedies in a bid to encourage machine-made ones had rendered the ten lakh beedi workers from the undivided district jobless, throwing their families to the street.

Mr Gowda said the delegation would pressurise the Minister concerned to repair the damaged roads and bridges on the National Highway in the undivided Dakshina Kannada district. Besides, the delegation would meet Railway Minister Lalu Prasad to fix a date for the commencement of the Hassan-Bangalore train service, he added.

He said CAMPCO, a leading cooperative body of cocoa growers, would convene a meeting of arecanut growers on October 27 in Bangalore to discuss the problem arising out of gutka ban and sudden crash in the price of arecanut.

UNI MA GD SBD2011