Revanth treating farmers as vote-bank, rues Harish

Hyderabad: Senior BRS leader T Harish Rao said on Sunday that the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy wants farmers’ votes but not their crops because the Congress party leaders who made big promises during the elections have now forgotten them as the farmers were waiting at the procurement centres with high hopes.

Speaking at a government-run procurement centre in Baddipadaga village, Siddipet district, on Sunday, Harish Rao said that a month had passed since the government claimed it would start procurement centres, yet farmers are still waiting, unable to go home. “What kind of support is this?” he questioned. In a few districts, frustrated farmers have taken to the streets in protest, demanding action and fair prices from the government. “During elections, Revanth Reddy was quick to promise support for farmers, but now neither he nor his ministers are visiting procurement centres to understand the hardships farmers are facing,” Harish Rao remarked. Rao said that the consequences of delayed procurement were severe. In many cases, farmers were being forced to sell cotton, which should fetch Rs 7,521 per quintal, for only Rs 5,000 due to a lack of government support. There is no minimum support price for cotton, no procurement centres for maize, and paddy is being sold for as low as Rs 1,800 per quintal—far below fair prices. “Farmers work tirelessly to cultivate their crops. Must they now struggle just to sell them?” he asked.