Hyderabad: BJP demands extra 500 per quintal paddy
Bharatiya Janata Party State chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar
Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party State chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar demanded that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announce Rs 500 extra per quintal to farmers during the procurement of current Kharif produce.
Addressing the media here on Sunday, Bandi demanded that the State government should procure the paddy exposed to rains, besides compensating the farmers for the loss incurred by giving an extra Rs 500 per quintal.
Adding that BJP sees no friction with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announcing ex gratia to farmers who died during the year-long farmers' agitation in Delhi, he demanded the Chief Minister to also announce a similar ex gratia to the 890 farmers from Telangana who committed suicides in 2019 and 2020. He also sought monetary aid to RTC employees died during 2019 agitation, to 20 intermediate students who had committed suicides after a goof-up in the announcement of exam results and also to 1,400 students, who were martyred during the separate Statehood movement.
He said that the suicides by farmers, students, unemployed in the State were the results of politics played out by the State government under the leadership of K Chandrashekar Rao.
"People are confused at the contradictory statements of CM over paddy procurement. Once he says State is not a broker to procure paddy, another time he contradicts it by claiming that the State is procuring every grain. He is confusing people to divert their attention from key issues," alleged Bandi, demanding the State government to speed up paddy procurement as the farmers were in despair over heaps of paddy getting damaged in sudden rains.
The State BJP chief further alleged that the State government's delay had led to the formation of river tribunals. "There is nothing that stops the State from providing reservations to STs on its own," he said. Regarding the demand for rollback of the Draft Electricity Bill, Bandi said that his party would soon reveal the data on how much the State government owed to the Discoms.