Kannada bodies mount pressure on CM to waive farm loan

Mounting pressure on the three-day old Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka, a group of pro-Kannada organisations have demanded that the chief minister waive farm loans and give a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to each family of those farmers who committed suicide.

The president of Kannada Okkoota (federation), Vatal Nagaraj today wrote to the chief minister and asked him to immediately waive farm loans.

He said many farmers committed suicide for failing to repay their loans.

Nagaraj told PTI that the Okkoota would give a week's time till the cabinet is formed and then it would intensify its pressure on the government to waive farm loans.

He flayed chief minister Kumaraswamy's statement that that he was at the "mercy" of Congress and not the people of state.

"A chief minister should never give a statement like that. It is unacceptable. All through the election campaign he was saying that he will waive farm loans and now he is saying that he is under the obligation of Congress and hence he cannot do it," Nagaraj said.

The pro-Kannada activist said the excuse that Rs 53,000 crore on the state exchequer would be a big burden on people holds no good as the chief minister has "lot of powers and he can also influence the prime minister to give concession.