Gangavati, Koppal:
On 21 February, more than 300 small and marginal peasants along with agricultural labours marched and staged a Rasta Roko at Gangavati. The Rasta Roko was led by J.Bharadwaj, SLT member of the party and state president of AIALA. Hundreds of peasants claimed that water is their right and releasing water from dam should not be stopped until April 20 as it would affect the paddy crop. They also demanded 10 tmc of water to be released from Bhadra reservoir to left bank canal of the Tungabhadra. CPI(ML) took up the issue as it would affect the peasants of four taluks, Gangavati, Sindhanur, Manvi and Raichur of Northern Karnataka. The traffic in the highway was disrupted for more than three hours because of Rasta Roko organized by the party.
Comrades Uma Shankar, taluk secretary of the party, Ismail of AICCTU, Rafeeq of RYA addressed the gathering along with others. Com.Bharadwaj criticized the BJP government for its anti-peasant policies and also ridiculed anti-farmer Yeddyurappa claiming himself to be the leader of farmers. He also appealed to the people to teach a fitting lesson to and unseat the communal, anti-women and anti-poor rule of the BJP in the state.
