Mallikarjun Kharge writes to PM Modi over Karnataka drought crisis

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand urgent financial help for drought-hit Karnataka, warning that the state is facing one of its worst environmental crises in recent history.

In his letter, Kharge called on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central government and the Congress-led state administration to rise above political differences to support struggling agricultural communities. He noted that Karnataka is dealing with a 58 per cent rainfall deficiency as of September, which has triggered widespread crop failure and severe distress for over 31 lakh farming families.

The state government has estimated total agricultural losses at Rs 18,748.23 crore. It has formally requested Rs 3,705.30 crore in emergency assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) frameworks.

The six demands for relief

Kharge outlined six specific requirements to address the unfolding crisis in Karnataka:

• Deploy a central team: Send federal officials to the Kalyana Karnataka region in the northeast to inspect and verify the extent of the drought damage.
• Release full funding: Approve and distribute the entire Rs 3,705.30 crore requested by the state without arbitrary cuts.
• Update land records for subsidies: Calculate input subsidies for small and marginal farmers using Karnataka's updated land records rather than the outdated 2015-16 Agriculture Census.
• Support utility costs: Provide extra financial aid to secure drinking water and cover the costs of substitute electricity.
• Scale up family relief: Ensure aid distribution reflects the true scale of distress experienced by the state’s 31 lakh farming families.
• Include developing areas: Treat 11 additional taluks currently undergoing ground-truthing assessments as part of the same continuous drought event for central funding.

Kharge confirmed he has also sent an identical appeal to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The state has already declared 177 taluks as drought-affected, with local authorities still assessing other regions.

BJP targets state government over farmer distress

As the dispute over federal funding continues, BJP leaders in Karnataka are launching their own efforts to win over disgruntled farmers, while shifting the blame back onto the state's Congress administration.

In Belagavi, former Rajya Sabha member and BJP Raitha Morcha president Iranna Kadadi announced that his wing would work directly with sugarcane growers who recently staged protests in Hubballi. Kadadi conceded that many of the farmers' concerns were legitimate, adding that the Morcha would hold discussions with their leaders and take their grievances to the Union government.

However, Kadadi accused the Karnataka government of failing to offer any meaningful support to its agricultural sector. He argued that the Modi administration is systematically implementing the recommendations of the M. S. Swaminathan Commission to help farmers, though he cautioned that the transition must happen gradually.

"There can be no overnight change," Kadadi said, while also criticising protest leader Shashikant Guruji for confusing the government-mandated minimum selling price of sugar with crop minimum support prices.