Bengaluru: With opposition parties intensifying their attack on the Siddaramaiah government over the suicide of farmers, Congress spokesperson V S Ugrappa has accused them of “instigating farmers to commit suicide.”

He also appealed to the BJP and JD(S) leaders to desist from playing with the lives of poor farmers for political gains.

Ugrappa told reporters here on Friday that it has become a common feature for opposition parties to take up the cause of sugarcane farmers ahead of the Belagavi session.

“Perhaps one opposition party is using the issue to bury the differences within and another party to strike roots in the region where it has no base.”

Sugarcane growers constitute just eight per cent of the farming community.

“Why our opposition leaders never raise a hue and cry for the cause of ragi, paddy, jowar, cotton and tur growers?” Ugrappa wondered.

Ugrappa also appealed to farmers not to fall prey to provocations and assured them that the Siddaramaiah government would come to their rescue.