MYSORE: Sugarcane farmers shouted slogans against Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy soon after his arrival at Mandakalli airport in Mysore on Sunday.

A delegation of sugarcane farmers representing Mysore and Chamarajanagar Sugarcane Growers' Association met the Chief Minister at the airport and raised their long-pending demand for revising the price of sugarcane grown in the region.

Farmers' delegation led by president of Mysore and Chamarajanagar Sugarcane Growers' Association Kurubur Shanthakumar drew the Chief Minister's attention to his promise to them during his last visit to the city that their grievances would be redressed in three days.

Sugarcane farmers of the region had been demanding a price of Rs. 1,600 per tonne against the Rs. 1,100 fixed by the Government. "Though you had promised to solve our problems in three days, there has been no progress though almost two weeks elapsed," Mr. Shanthakumar told the Chief Minister.

But, an unimpressed Chief Minister told the delegation that thousands of sugarcane farmers of the region had accepted the sugarcane price fixed by the Government. "It appears that only a few farmers have taken to agitation. If a majority of farmers feels that injustice had been done to them, let them approach me," he said. These remarks infuriated sugarcane farmers.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said sugarcane factories had been complaining that the price of sugar had plummeted from Rs. 1,800 per quintal to Rs. 1,500. "Even the sugar factories face problems," the Chief Minister said.

When farmers asked the Chief Minister to lift the ban on sale of sugarcane in the open market if sugar factories did not agree to their price, Mr. Kumaraswamy told the sugarcane growers to approach the Centre with their demand. The Chief Minister's reply irked the farmers further and they began shouting slogans against the Chief Minister. They rushed to way lay the Chief Minister's car, but security personnel stopped them.

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