Farmers' suicide cases on rise: Congress

Bangalore, Dec 25 (UNI) Former Karantaka Deputy Chief Minister and senior Congress leader S Sidharamaiah today accused the JD(S)-BJP coalition government of failing to check the incidents of farmers suicide ever since it came to power in Karantaka.

Speaking at a felicitation ceremony of former Karnataka Chief Minister N Dharam Singh, on his 70th birth day, here today Mr Sidharamaiah said the Congress led coalition government in the state had initiated several pro-farmers programmes resulting into reduction of farmers suicide cases in Karnataka.

However, ever since the JD(S)-BJP combine came to power the number of suicide cases were increasing as government was not bothered about the plights of farming community.

Mr Sidharamaiah had alleged that the Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had failed to implement all the pro-farmer programmes taken up by the previous Congress government in the state and was only interested in staying in power.

He also accused that former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda terminated the JD(S)-Congress alliance with self interest of making his son the Chief Minister of the state.

JD(S) dissident leader and former minister P G R Sindhia who also spoke on the occasion accused that all the infrastructure projects in the state came to halt in the JD(S)-BJP combine government in Karantaka.

Earlier, rich tributes were paid to former Karantaka Chief Minister and opposition leader in the Karnataka assembly N Dharam Singh who turned 70 here today. Union Ministers Oscar Fernandes, K H Muniyappa and M V Rajashekaran, former Union Railway minister C K Jaffer Sharief, Deputy Chairman in the Rajya Sabha K Rahaman Khan, KPCC President Mallikarjuna Kharge were also present at the occasion.

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