Accusing Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy of looting farmers by selling fertilizers in the black market and creating artificial scarcity, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu demanded, on Thursday, that Chief Minister K Rosaiah should explain the reasons for the failure in the supply of required fertilizers to farmers.
Naidu alleged that the State government was moving at a snail's pace in initiating steps to allay farmers' fears of crop loss.
Talking to media persons at the NTR Trust Bhavan, Naidu said that though farmers are in dire straits over the supply of inadequate quantity of fertilizers, the Chief Minister was issuing irresponsible statements that the opposition was politicizing the issue to get mileage.
The former chief minister wondered about the mismatch between the Chief Minister's statement - that the state has an adequate quantity of fertilizers - and the situation on the ground - where the farmers were agitating for more fertilizers.
"The state government has no vision. The agriculture officials have no data on the exact requirement of fertilizers needed for the Kharif season. The government has failed totally on seeking assistance from the Centre over the required quantity of fertilizers," the TDP president stated.
Reacting to the filing of cases against Balaji Fertilizers owned by Kadapa Mayor Ravindranath Reddy, Naidu demanded that the police file cases against Reddy instead of registering cases against factory attenders.
The TDP chief also sought AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi's personal attention to the goings-on in the State, and said that his party would extend total cooperation to the young leader in checking corruption and scams.
Naidu also expressed solidarity with the Telangana lawyers, who are on an agitation at the High Court, seeking 42% quota in judiciary for people of Telangana region.
The former chief minister reminded that during the tenure of Telugu Desam Party, the government had reserved posts – 40% for Telangana, 40% for Andhra and 20 % for Rayalaseema - proportionate to the populations of regions. He alleged that the Congress government has changed the quota pattern and created regional disturbances, by violating the rules and regulations.
Naidu also expressed confidence that the people of Telangana know what the TDP had done for them and that they would not forget the party.