Niranjan dares Bandi to write letter to PM Modi seeking funds for TS

Hyderabad: TRS leader and Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy on Thursday evening lashed out at BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar over his letter to the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on the alleged farmers' woes in the State.

Niranaja Reddy challenged Bandi Sanjay to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get pending funds amounting to Rs 30,000 crore released from the Centre to the State.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, Niranjan Reddy advised the BJP leaders to stop shedding crocodile tears for the farmers of Telangana. He reminded that Bandi Sanjay, who asked the farmers to cultivate paddy and assured to take the responsibility of getting the crop purchased by the Centre, went into hiding, leaving the farmers to their fate.

"Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao came to the rescue of farmers despite the Centre refusing to purchase parboiled rice. Sanjay must apologise for his mistake and rub his nose before the Sri Bhagyalaxmi temple at Charminar," he demanded.

The Minister ridiculed Sanjay for comparing Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima with PM-KISAN, and hailing the Centre for extending minimum support price (MSP), among other issues.

"While the Telangana government is spending Rs 7,500 crore per annum under Rythu Bandhu, the Centre is providing a mere Rs 580 crore under PM-KISAN. Similarly, about Rs 1,500 crore is being spent on Rythu Bima without any support from the Centre," the Minister pointed out.

With regards to MSP for crops, Niranjan Reddy said barring sunflower, cultivating any of the 14 crops was not economically viable for farmers. He advised Sanjay to study and improve his knowledge about crops and agriculture before he speaks before the public.

While Sanjay was hailing the Centre's announcement to provide MSP for 14 crops, it may be noted that as against the MSP of Rs 2,060 per quintal announced for paddy by the Centre, farmers were spending Rs 3,054 per quintal for paddy production, he said.

The Minister stated that Telangana was the only State to implement schemes such as Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, uninterrupted power supply and irrigation, as well as other support to farmers and ensuring remunerative price for their produce. "The Modi government has a history of bringing three contentious farm laws and repealing them after apologising to farmers, who put up 16 months of relentless fight," he said.

Niranjan Reddy sought to know from Sanjay as to why Gujarat was not implementing the PM Fasal Bima Yojana if it was effective as was being claimed by the BJP leaders. He advised the BJP State president to learn from the mistakes of suspended BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Navin Jindal, and speak sensibly.