Congress Wants Farmers' Issues In Assembly Agenda

The Congress has said that it would demand that the state government discuss the farmers' problems in the one-day special Assembly session on April 30.

Speaking to the media after the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting on Saturday, Leader Of Opposition in the Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir and Deputy CLP leader G Chinna Reddy said that the Chief Minister had told the BAC meeting that the one-day session would discuss only the Telangana government's land acquisition act, and did not concede the Congress' demand to discuss the farmers' issue, too, making the party decide to double down on bringing up the issue.

They said that the Khammam lathi charge on red chilli farmers took place only because of the Chief Minister failing to respond to their (the farmers') problems in the TRS' Warangal meeting.

They also said that it was ridiculous for the Chief Minister to allege that the Opposition parties were the reason for the Khammam incident. They made it clear that the Congress would force the government to discuss the farmers' issue first, and only then take up land acquisition act.

Meanwhile, in a bid to respond in kind to the CM's continuous derogatory language against the Congress leaders, Leader Of Opposition in the Telangana Assembly K Jana Reddy asked the state government whether its was a "luccha rule or lafanga rule".

TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Jana Reddy condemned the Khammam lathi charge on farmers and the arrests. They alleged that it was atrocious for the state government to arrest the farmers, and threatened that they would take the movement to any level. They said that the government needed to clear the issue of minimum support price for the farmers and only then take up land acquisition act.

"Why is the state government in such hurry?" they asked. They made it clear that the Congress was opposing the "anti-farmers" land acquisition act, and asked the state government why it was maintaining secrecy in regard to the act instead of conducting an all-party meeting on it.

"Forceful land acquisition is not acceptable," they said, and asked the state government what the problem was in implementing the Land Acquisition Act of 2013.