The Hindu : Karnataka News : A man dedicated to the cause of farmers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 02, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

A man dedicated to the cause of farmers

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, OCT. 1. The farmers' movement in Karnataka dates back to the 1960's when the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), under the leadership of the late H.S. Rudrappa, former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, organised them.

In the early 1980's, M.D. Nanjundaswamy, professor of law, came to lead the KRRS and, during his time, it grew from strength to strength. But, the political mobilisation of farmers was short-lived and could not be sustained.

However, the BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa, with his whirlwind tour of the State, managed to get the farmers, to a great extent, to back the party, which, till recently, was considered to be a party of the urbanites.

Mr. Yediyurappa's 61st birthday was celebrated today, and the BJP plans to observe the year up to September 30, 2005 as farmers' year in the State.

Mr. Yediyurappa began his political career as president of the Shikaripur unit of the erstwhile Jan Sangh and became the president of the municipal council. He entered the Legislative Assembly in 1983 from Shikaripur and has been re-elected four times.

The BJP, which secured only two seats in the 1985 Assembly elections (down from 18 in 1983), and got only four seats in 1989, won 44 seats in the 1994 elections and Mr. Yediyurappa became the Leader of the Opposition. As the chairman of the campaign committee for the 2004 elections, Mr. Yediyurappa was again elected from Shikaripur. Along with him, 78 other BJP candidates were elected, making the party the biggest group in the current Assembly.

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