Karnataka - Belgaum   

Sarvodaya Karnataka to provide value-based politics

By Our Staff Correspondent

BELGAUM, MARCH 22. The ideology of the new political party, Sarvodaya Karnataka, which represents the Raitha Sangha, one faction (C.M. Muniyappa) of the Dalit Sangarsh Samiti, and the Karunadu Sene, is to provide an alternative to "corrupt politics" where there was no value for democratic principles, according to Puttanaiah and Muniyappa.

The two leaders, who were here on Tuesday to mobilise workers and public support for their May 23 conference in Bangalore, were talking to presspersons.

The farmer leader, Baswaraj Tambaki, and the Belgaum District DSS Convenor, Giriappa Kolkar, were present.

Pointing out at the deteriorating political values with elections becoming a "corrupt political affair", Mr. Puttanaiah said progressive thinkers, including farmer leaders and writers, were feeling suffocated under the system where there was no justice for the majority community.

While the minority rich was becoming richer with every passing day, the poor were becoming bankrupt and committing suicide without finding solace to their problems.

There was unemployment and the prices of commodities were ever increasing. Financial support to the farm sector was meagre despite the fact that the country is basically an agrarian economy and a majority of the population depended on agriculture, they said.

Instead of addressing these issues, the governments have opened up the domestic market for exploitation by multinational companies. Despite widespread opposition to the GATT proposals, the governments have capitulated to the pressure from international market forces and ratified the GATT.

Therefore, with all political parties showing pro-WTO interests at the cost of future of the people, a fresh beginning is being made to provide an alternative political system within the framework of the Constitution, they said.

In the recent past, regional parties in the State did not survive the test of time as ambitious politicians had started them to serve their own interests.

This party was a result of a thought process, lasting 15 years, of intellectuals and various sections of people, says Mr. Muniyappa.

Announcing that the party manifesto and aims and objectives of the organisation would be released in Bangalore on May 23, Mr. Putannaiah said one of the major missions will be to train farmers to take up "zero budget natural farming'' and bid goodbye to pesticides and other chemicals which were ruining Indian agriculture. The concept of "zero budget natural farming" was catching up in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

Recently, one such programme was held in Mysore. It had evoked good response, he said. "We have been telling the governments to recognise and support this indigenous farming technique which produced `poison-free' foodgrains but to no avail.''

He said the new party had more than 2,000 of its supporters elected to gram panchayats in the recent elections. The party would contest the elections to the taluk and zilla panchayats.

Mr. Puttanaiah said, "We will be guided by the ideologies and principles of Buddha, Basveshwara, Mahatma Gandhi, B. Ambedkar and Ram Manohar Lohia."

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