Union Agriculture Minister Piyush Goyal today clarified that the Centre was ready to procure paddy from Telangana.
The minister accused the K Chandrasekhar Rao government of carrying out a misinformation campaign on the paddy procurement issue.
"We are ready to buy raw rice from the state. The Centre had informed Parliament earlier too that it would procure raw rice of the Yasangi season too from Telangana. The state government is however obfuscating facts by bringing up boiled rice. The state government had assured us in writing that it would not send boiled rice to the Centre, but is making a hue and cry about that wrongly now and spreading disinformation. The Telangana government should stop playing politics and send the stocks as it had promised earlier. It should not blame the Centre for its failure to send the stocks. Once again, the Centre is willing to buy the raw rice, and it is the state that is not cooperating in this regard," he said.
The minister was speaking after a team of BJP MPs from the state - D Arvind, Bandi Sanjay and Bapu Rao - met him in Delhi to discuss the paddy issue. The BJP MPs sought clarity on the issue after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced that there would be protests from the village to the state level and at the Centre over paddy procurement.
Later, MP Arvind, talking to the media in Delhi, criticised KCR for adopting double standards on the paddy row.
"KCR is distracting the people from the state's genuine issues and playing politics. The Centre is ready to purchase our paddy but KCR is not ready to keep his promise," Arvind said.
filed in:Telangana, Paddy, KCR, Centre, Agriculture, Farmers, BJP