There was only one landlord in the entire village. The rest of the villagers were all tenants or hired peasants of the landlord. Their economic and social conditions were deplorable. The peasants were afraid even to stand before the landlord. They had to wear the dhoti above the ankle. Women were forbidden to wear sarees that cover:nd the leg below the knee. They all had to toil in the landlord's house but without payment. They could not ever dream of education. The dumb toilers accepted their lot as the will of fate.

A new wind blew across the region after the attainment of freedom. The peasantry awoke. They realized that the too were human beings. They formed unions. But the landlords did not like all this. Suppose these people who had been trampled upon for ages turned against the landlords? Fear gripped the landlords' minds. The peasants were evicted from the lands they had been cultivating. In 1951, the peasants organized themselves. They decided to fight injustice. The Farmers' Union and the Socialist Party of Karnataka launched a satyagraha against the landlords' injustice. Many farmers got into their fields in-groups to fight for their rights. The Government took the side of the landlords. Led by the socialist party, farmers poured in hundreds into the jails in Sagar and Shimoga.

The news reached Lohia in the month of July 1951. He rushed to Karnataka. Accompanied by the local leaders, he went straight from Bangalore to Sagar. From Sagar off to the village of Kagodu. Since it was the monsoon season, there was incessant rainfall. On the 12th of July the weather was slightly better in the afternoon. With the flag of the Socialist Party in one hand, Lohia led the peasants and got into the fields. He launched the Satyagraha. The atmosphere was quiet but tense when the procession went through the streets of the village. Soon after the procession, Lohia arrived at the resthouse of the Sagar Railway Station. It was around midnight. Senior police officials of the district came there and arrested Lohia.