The story so far: The Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT), popularly known as Bidadi Township Project, has emerged as a contentious issue in Karnataka, with hundreds of farmers staging protests against it, and one such recent instance even turning violent. It has also sparked a political standoff between two prominent Vokkaliga leaders in the State: Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.The project, aimed at reducing the burden on Bengaluru city, was first proposed by Mr. Kumaraswamy in 2006, but it was put on the backburner following large-scale opposition from farmers. Mr. Shivakumar, who earlier held the Bengaluru Development portfolio under the Siddaramaiah government, revived the project, citing multiple reasons. However, Mr. Kumaraswamy is now opposing the project.On July 13, women farmers in Mandalahalli, a village near Bidadi comprising about 15 houses, wielded brooms, flung slippers, and hurled stones at government officials who were part of the Joint Measurement Committee and had arrived in the village to conduct a survey for the implementation of the Bidadi Township Project.
A videograb of women farmers hitting survey officials’ vehicles with brooms during a protest over the proposed Bidadi township project, demanding the Deputy Commissioner’s permission letter amid a standoff over a land survey.
