New Delhi: K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Chief Minister of Telangana and the leader of the TRS, took his fight against the BJP-led Union government over the paddy procurement policy to the national capital on Monday. He and his whole cabinet sat on a symbolic dharna and launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, accusing them of operating a conspiracy government. Rao also gave the Centre a 24-hour deadline to respond to the problem.
In particular, in the last eight years, KCR’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has sided with the BJP administration on key bills in Parliament, but is now becoming more vocal against the saffron party, which has been making cautious but steady advances into his state.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Monday also joined the ongoing protest by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) at the Telangana Bhavan.
Chief Minister Rao told the crowd that he will return to Delhi and meet with leaders of other political parties to discuss the upcoming presidential elections.
His message was loud and obvious. Rao is no longer on the fence. He wants to join forces with regional forces to battle the BJP and, to a lesser extent, the Congress, which he sees as a threat to his party in Telangana. Rao was harsh in his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal.
He alleged that Goyal “spoke in an insulting tone” to his ministers when they went to discuss issues relating to paddy procurement with him. He said governments that have brought tears to the eyes of farmers have not lasted long. “They have been thrown out. That is the strength of our country’s farmers. Nobody is permanent in powerā¦ you and your ministers spoke in an insulting tone to our ministersā¦ it is not acceptable to us,” he said.
“When our Agricultural Minister Niranjan Reddy and some other ministers came to Delhi with the demands of the farmersā¦ The behaviour of Goyal was bad and insulting. We grow top-quality rice in Telangana but he asked us to consume broken rice. He asked the people of Telangana to get used to consuming broken rice. He is not Piyush Goyal. He is Piyush Golmaal. I don’t know what he thinks of himselfā¦ where do they get this kind of arrogance from,” Rao said addressing the gathering.
Talking about the facilities that his government is providing for farmers, he said there has been an increase of one crore acre in cultivation area. “If the prime minister of the country was honest, good and pro-people, he would have said what the Telangana farmers had done was creditable. He would have praised them,” he said.
Referring to the 13-month-long farmers’ protest, he said the prime minister had to finally apologise to the farmers. “Our prime minister is maafi ke saudagar. Whenever elections come, he apologises. Some time ago he apologized to some other people tooā¦ the farmers of this country are not beggars. They are fighting for their rights. I want to tell the prime ministerā¦ come up with a new agricultural policy. We will also give our contribution. If you don’t do thatā¦ aage chalke aapko hata denge and the new government will implement a new integrated agricultural policy,” he said.
He called the BJP’s decision to hold a dharna in Hyderabad “shameful.”
“Why are you holding a dharna in Hyderabad. Shame on you. The BJP is so shamelessā¦ Let me tell you that the Telangana government is not that weak. We will not push our farmers into the Ganga. We will save our farmers. But the entire country should know what is their attitudeā¦ towards farmers. The government is shadyantra wala sarkar not jantantra wala sarkar,” he said.
The BJP wants votes and seats from Telangana but not the grains of its farmers, the Telangana chief minister said. “When we raise our voiceā¦ you ask the BJP to hold a dharna in Hyderabad. This conspiracy will not work in the country. I will go back today or tomorrow. I will find a solution to this issue. Then I will come back, sit in Delhiā¦ will unite all the politiciansā¦ will fight for the farmersā¦ will fight to make the MSP a constitutional right,” Rao added.
TRS workers in Telangana recently stopped four national highways to stress their demand for a “uniform” procurement strategy across the country. In order to bring the matter to a national level, the party decided to hold a protest in Delhi.
Earlier on Sunday, Kavitha told the media that the country’s food security would be jeopardised if the Centre did not implement a “universal procurement” strategy.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
