BJP-JD(S) unity stalls APMC Bill in Karnataka upper house

The BJP-JD(S) combine managed to block the APMC Bill in the Karnataka Legislative Council where the ruling Congress does not have a majority.

After a division of votes, it was decided to refer the Bill to a House committee for review. The BJP-JDS combine secured 31 votes against the Congress that had 21. Only one JD(S) member Marithibbe Gowda sided with the Congress. 

On Monday, the Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation and Development) (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Assembly amid protests by the BJP and JD(S). 

The majority mark in the 75-member house is 38. The BJP is the single-largest party with 34 members, followed by Congress at 26 and JD(S) eight. There are five seats vacant, one Independent and one chairperson. 

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In 2020, the BJP government had amended the APMC law allowing farmers to sell wherever they want as opposed to them having to trade only in notified markets or yards. The BJP government even removed penalties. The Bill now proposes to reinstate the earlier restrictions. 

Piloting the Bill, Agricultural Marketing Minister Shivanand Patil said the union government has withdrawn a similar law. "There is no point in continuing with this Act," he said. "Except Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka, most of the states, including BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Maharashtra, have gone back to the old Act. If we still continue to implement the present Act, we will be forced to close down all 162 APMC markets," he argued. 

Countering this, BJP members Talwar Sabanna, KS Naveen, Kota Srinivas Poojary, YA Narayanaswamy, N Ravi Kumar and others argued that the existing Act is good for farmers as it frees them from the "clutches of the archaic APMC bureaucracy". They alleged that APMC markets had "fleeced" farmers for years.

Law Minister HK Patil taunted BJP members that their support for the Bill would amount to opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and favouring corporates like Ambani and Adani. 

With the exception of Marithibbe Gowda, BJP and JD(S) members demanded that the Bill be referred to a House committee for re-examination.

Legislative Council chairperson Basavaraj Horatti put the Bill for a vote, which the BJP-JD(S) combine won.