Hubballi (Karnataka) [India], November 7 : Amid the ruckus over Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) Chairman Jagdambika Pal visiting Karnataka to meet the farmers, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said that this was all a political drama since there were elections in the state.
"Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started this (sending of notices) in 2019, but the Karnataka government remains committed and would not change any record", he said, adding that they might have come for their political purpose.
"This is all a political drama since there are upcoming elections. Land is a state subject. BJP themselves started this in 2019. They had given notices. Even in Dharwad, they gave notices. It is the continuation of that. But my government is committed, we will not change any record. We will not rectify it. We don't want to affect any farmers. This has all been started by the BJP. They are trying to put the blame on us but we don't mind. JPC doesn't have any powers to enter, they might have come for their political purposes since it was not an officially designated visit," he said.
Meanwhile, the JPC Chairman on Thursday morning met various farmers' organisations in Karnataka's Hubballi and said that the fact-finding report will be presented in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament. He was accompanied by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya.
"We will submit the report in the upcoming (winter) session of Parliament," Pal said while speaking with ANI, adding that he was visiting the state to meet farmers after BJP MP Tejasvi Surya invited him.
"I came here along with my team and on the invitation of Tejasvi Surya. Here, farmers who have had their lands with them for decades are aggrieved. The farmers have been working and cultivating their land since 1920s. I had come to meet them. My team was in Bengaluru last month, and again tomorrow I am going to Guwahati. As the Chairman of the Waqf Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), if in any state the farmers are aggrieved, I can come and meet them. I can go alone as the Chairman to prepare the report and with my committee too. I am going across the country. Our work is preparing a comprehensive report by holding discussions with the stakeholders," he said.
Earlier, Congress MP Mohammad Jawed on Thursday lashed out at JPC Chairman Pal, accusing him of not working in the interest of Parliamentary democracy by taking a "unilateral" decision to visit Karnataka to meet the farmers. He said that the entire JPC team should pay a visit there.