Babagouda Patil quits BJP

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI, OCT. 2. The State unit of the BJP, which is trying to regain lost ground under the presidentship of Mr. Basavaraj Patil Sedam, suffered a major setback today when the farmers' leader and former Union minister of state, Mr. Babagouda Patil, announced that he was quitting the party along with his followers.

Mr. Babagouda Patil, who announced the decision here after a meeting with his supporters and colleagues in the farmers' movement, said that a new organisation called "Janashakti" was being formed to take up the cause of the farmers and other oppressed sections. A 12-member organising committee was also constituted.

Mr. Patil said that he had been toying with the idea of quitting the BJP. What had helped him make up his mind was the manner in which the Union and State governments had allowed the prices of agricultural commodities to plummet precipitously without doing anything to help the farmers.

The prices of bajra, maize, jowar and ragi in the State had fallen Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 below the support price of Rs. 445 per quintal. But still there had been no move by government agencies to enter the market. The price of "bili jola" (white jowar) had touched a new low.

Mr. Patil, whose decision to join the BJP before the 1996 elections to Parliament led to a split in the once powerful Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, said that he was convinced that it was not possible to espouse the cause of the farmers and others by being in a political party.

Therefore, he was re-entering "agitational politics" to give a voice to those who had been silently suffering because of the wrong policies pursued by the State and Union governments.

Mr. Patil said his decision to quit the BJP had nothing to do with the move on the part of the new President of the State unit, Mr. Basavaraj Patil Sedam, to take disciplinary action against him. He had been feeling stifled within the party for quite some time.

While acknowledging that the former BJP State unit President, Mr. B.S. Yediyurappa, had been responsible for his getting a berth in the Union ministry last time, Mr. Patil said that he had not aspired for the berth at all.

The BJP in Karnataka had no future under the leadership of Mr. Yediyurappa and Mr. Ananth Kumar, he said. Mr. Sedam was nothing but a puppet in the hands of the duo.

Mr. Patil said that during his tenure as a Union minister of state, Mr. Yediyurappa had sent word that the party had not "benefited" from his entry into the Union ministry. He did not understand the meaning of the message but promptly told Mr. Yediyurappa that he was willing to step down so that "somebody who can benefit the party" could be inducted into the ministry.

With his exit, Mr. Patil said, the BJP would lose whatever support it had enjoyed in the rural areas. In Belgaum District, the three taluk panchayats which were under his control would remain with him leaving the BJP high and dry.

Asked whether he had informed the BJP leadership about his decision to quit, Mr. Patil said he had not. But, Mr. V. Dhananjaya Kumar, Union Minister of State for Finance, had counselled against taking any precipitate step, Mr. Patil said.

Mr. Patil also lashed out at the BJP-led Union Government for ignoring the farmers' interests. During his time as a minister, a land acquisition amendment Bill which would have benefited farmers had been drafted and approved by a committee of ministers, including himself. It had even won the approval of the Cabinet. But the fall of the Government came in the way of the Bill being introduced in Parliament.

The main aim of the amendment proposed by him was to prevent farmers from becoming paupers in the name of land acquisition. One of the features of the amendment was that fertile land would not be allowed to be acquired for any purpose. The multinational companies were asking for large chunk of lands which would make farmers, who depended on the land, paupers, he said.

He criticised the Union Government for increasing the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG. This had burdened the common man even more, Mr. Patil said. Those in power appeared to be oblivious of the fact that the collapse of agriculture would affect the country's economy as a whole, Mr. Patil said.

Replying to question, he said that he had been disillusioned by his stint with the BJP. He had joined the party thinking that he would be able to help solve the problems of the people. But this had not happened. For him politics was an instrument of service and not an end in itself, he said.

On the prospects of a realignment of all those engaged in the farmers' movement, Mr. Patil said that all those who believed in the policies of the new organisation were welcome to join. Would he join hands with his former colleague, Prof. M.D. Nanjundaswamy?, he was asked. Mr. Patil said that as a colleague he knew the latter very well and would not like to comment further.

Mr. Patil said that he had sent his letter of resignation to the BJP President, Mr. Bangaru Laxman.

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Section  : Southern States
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