Bengaluru: JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to immediately clear the dues to cane growers from the state’s coffers. The government can recover the amount from the sugar factories either by selling sugar stocks or by initiating legal action against the mill owners, he said.

“You (Siddaramaiah) beg, borrow or steal…I am not concerned… but you must clear sugarcane farmers’ dues before the start of the Belagavi session.”

Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda said that the state government clear the dues to sugarcane farmers before the start of the legislature session in Belagavi on Monday.

The Tamil Nadu government, when caught in a similar situation, had cleared the arrears of sugarcane growers from its coffers. What was stopping the Siddaramaiah government from doing so, Gowda asked.

He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of neglecting farmers.

“Modi wants to build smart cities by spending crores. I have no objection…but why cannot he announce one such scheme for the agriculture sector?” he asked.

Gowda said he had raised this issue during his recent meeting with Modi in Delhi and had told the PM in clear words that if he continued to neglect farmers and the farming sector, he will be rejected by people in future.