Farmers in Karnataka protest amendments to farm laws, attempt to besiege Vidhan Soudha

PTI, Dec 9, 2020, 1:24 PM IST

Bengaluru: Farmers backed by various unions on Wednesday took out a protest march to the Vidhana Soudha here, where the winter session of the Karnataka Legislature is underway, demanding that the state government scrap the recent amendments to the farm laws.

The protests were against the amendments to the Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Act-2020 and Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation and Development) (Amendment) Act-2020. While the KLR (Amendment) Act-2020 was passed by both the Houses, the APM (Amendment) Act-2020 is waiting for clearance from the Council after being approved by the Assembly in the Monsoon session.

Following a call given by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Hasiru Sene and allied organisations, the farmers geared up for another show down, a day after joining the nationwide protests against the farm bills brought by the Centre.

Many protesters arrived in the city by the train due to which security was beefed up at the Bengaluru City Railway Station. The rally started from the Railway station to the Anand Rao Circle and converged at the Freedom park.

Later, the farmers will march towards the Vidhana Soudha carrying whip used to guide bulls.

The police barricaded all the roads leading to the Vidhana Soudha and intensified the security measures to prevent any protester venturing closer to Karnataka”s seat of power. Already the prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC are in place around the Vidhana Soudha.