T Congress starts 'Vari Deeksha'
TPCC president A Revanth Reddy speaking at ‘Vari Deeksha’ at Dharna Chowk near Indira Park in Hyderabad on Saturday Photo: Srinivas Setty
Hyderabad: The Telangana Congress party's two day 'Vari Deeksha' against the State government's indifference towards paddy procurement in the current agricultural season kick started at Dharna Chowk here on Saturday. All senior leaders took part in the dharna.
Leading the agitation, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy fired salvo at Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for not taking measures to procure paddy. "Farmers are waiting at market yards, but no action was taken by the government so far. It is not sure if government is ready to purchase all the paddy and the farmers are at the receiving end due to lopsided policies of State and Union governments," he pointed out.
Announcing that he will sleep at the dharna site, Revanth alleged that KCR and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were good friends and the TRS chief was taking all political decisions at the behest of BJP. It was proved several times that TRS is B-Team of the ruling BJP party, he noted and warned that the Congress will intensify agitation if the State government fails to address paddy procurement soon.
The Congress leader demanded the State government to earmark Rs 10,000 crore for paddy procurement immediately and also provide Rs 500 bonus per quintal. TPCC former president and Nalgonda MP Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that farmers were ruined due to the negligence of the government in purchasing paddy in time. Congress would put up a united fight against the Central and State governments on farmers' issues. He said the party would fight in Assembly and in Parliament on behalf of farmers.
Uttam said that they have two main demands - the government should purchase every grain of discoloured and soaked paddy and should not impose any restriction on cultivating paddy during Rabi season.
Lampooning the State government for its inaction, the MP said that even though the paddy has started to reach threshing floors and IKP centres in October and November, the TRS government did not chalk out any action plan to purchase the grains.