Overview
- After a large rally at Malini City Grounds in Belagavi, BJP leaders and participating farmers marching toward the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha were detained by police.
- Those held included state BJP chief B.Y. Vijayendra, Assembly Opposition Leader R. Ashoka, Council Opposition Leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, and MLC C.T. Ravi.
- BJP leaders charged the state with failing to open procurement centres and to ensure FRP/MSP, citing maize sales below the Rs 2,400 MSP and alleging 2,500 farmer suicides during the Congress tenure.
- Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar urged the opposition to press the Centre on procurement and funding, pointing to unreleased grants, including a promised Rs 5,400 crore, and a lack of MSP purchases by Union agencies.
- The state says it has issued procurement guidelines and directed distilleries to buy maize for ethanol with government-covered transport as stopgap relief, with the broader Centre–state dispute now before the Belagavi winter session.