TRS Leaders Start Statewide "Paddy" Protests

Responding to the call from TRS boss and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, several ministers and TRS leaders staged protests in districts and mandals in the state today demanding that the Centre procure paddy from the state.

The ministers and leaders who participated in the dharnas included K T Rama Rao, Harish Rao, Srinivas Yadav, Srinivas Goud, Jagadish Reddy, Prashanth Reddy, Suresh Reddy, Ajay Kumar, Nama Nageshwar Rao, P Srinivas Reddy, Sabitha Indra Reddy, Sathyavathi Rathod and Dayakar Rao.

In Siddipet, Finance Minister Harish Rao participated in the protest and demanded that the Centre avoid delay in procuring paddy from the state. He slammed the BJP-led union government for "adopting double standards" by procuring paddy from Punjab but refusing to do so from Telangana.

"During the rainy season farmers need to grow parboiled paddy due to the weather conditions, and the Centre cannot refuse to procure them," he said. "The Centre should buy the paddy stocks of our state or face stiff protests. Our fight will continue until the Centre accedes."

Addressing a mammoth protest meeting by TRS leaders at Siricilla district, minister K T Rama Rao too took serious exception to the Centre and the BJP for "adopting dual standards" on paddy procurement. He claimed that the "bankrupt and failed" policies of the Centre had led to India occupying the 102nd position in the World Hunger Index, far behind Nepal, Bangladesh and even Bhutan. Instead of exporting the foodgrains, then, the Centre should be clearing the stocks from all states and feeding its poor, he said.

At Indira Park in Hyderabad, Animal Husbandry and Cinematography minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav addressed a similar protest program. He said that the TRS had just begun the protest now, and would show a "cinema" to the Centre soon.

Coming down heavily on the BJP government at the Centre for "deceiving the farmers", Yadav too expressed surprise that it was buying paddy from Punjab but not from Telangana. How could such partisan attitude be displayed in a federal country like India, he sought to know. He vowed to continue to press the Centre on the issue.

At Nirmal, minister Indrakaran Reddy said that the TRS would take up protests in Delhi and in Parliament to get the union government to procure paddy from the state. He slammed the centre for "duping farmers" in the name of farm laws and conditions.

Ajay Kumar and Nama Nageshwar Rao too lashed out at the Centre for the "dual standards" in its refusal to buy Telangana's paddy. The Centre's apathy for farmers was evident in its ignoring nationwide protests by farmers since last year against the new farm laws, they said. They vowed that the TRS would not relent until the Centre procured paddy stocks from Telangana.