Siddaramaiah Writes To Madhya Pradesh CM Urging For Release Of Detained Karnataka Farmers

Expressing concern, Siddaramaiah emphasized that it had been four days since the farmers' detention, and they were yet to be released.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urged Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav to secure the release of farmers from Karnataka who were detained in Bhopal while en route to the national capital for a protest on Thursday.

In a letter addressed to Yadav, Siddaramaiah highlighted that a group of farmers from Karnataka, traveling from Bengaluru to Delhi to voice their grievances against the "anti-farmer policies" of the Central government, had been detained in Bhopal without any reason.

Expressing concern, Siddaramaiah emphasized that it had been four days since the farmers' detention, and they were yet to be released.

"It is now learnt that your police authorities are shifting them to Varanasi. Travelling to Delhi to participate in a peaceful protest is the Constitutional right of the people. It is highly unfortunate that farmers who are seeking better policies are being arrested and ill-treated by police authorities in Madhya Pradesh," the letter said, as per PTI.

Siddaramaiah urged Yadav to personally oversee the matter and ensure the prompt release of the detained farmers without subjecting them to unnecessary transfers.

The 'Delhi Chalo' agitation, led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, aims to pressure the Centre into addressing various demands, including legislation on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops and loan waivers.

Several farmer associations, primarily from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab, had scheduled a march on February 13 as part of their 'Delhi Chalo' initiative to advocate for a law guaranteeing MSP for their produce, a condition they had stipulated when agreeing to end their protests in 2021.

Earlier, Siddaramaiah took to X and said, "The arrest of Hubballi farmers by the Madhya Pradesh government, as they were heading to a protest in Delhi tomorrow, is highly condemnable. I demand that the Madhya Pradesh government immediately release all the farmers from our state who have been arrested and allow them to participate in the protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi tomorrow."