Hyderabad: Senior BRS leaders criticised the Congress government for reducing three-day “Rythu Mela” to a political show, while farmers across Telangana continued to suffer due to delayed procurement and unfulfilled promises.
Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan on Thursday, former Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao said the Congress government should have organised its “Rythu Mela” at procurement centres instead of air-conditioned venues filled with party workers. He said the government failed to procure even half of the harvested paddy.
He said farmers in Mahabubabad and Jayashankar Bhupalpally districts suffered heavy crop losses due to unseasonal rains, and demanded immediate compensation and support for affected families. “The Ministers are making false statements, instead of addressing farmers’ distress. If only they had organised Rythu Mela at procurement centres, farmers would have taught them a fitting lesson,” he said.
Rajya Sabha MP Vaddiraju Ravichandra stated that the Congress government lacked even a basic mechanism to procure paddy. He said during the BRS regime, Ministers personally monitored procurement operations, whereas farmers are now forced to sleep near their farm produce awaiting its purchase and transportation.
Former Minister Satyavathi Rathod said the massive turnout at BRS working president KT Rama Rao’s Rythu Sangrama Sadassu held in Warangal, indicated growing anger among cultivators against the current Congress regime. She alleged that despite repeated visits by BRS leaders to threshing floors over the past month, procurement has not begun in several places.
MLC Pochampally Srinivas Reddy accused the government of attempting to block the BRS farmers’ meeting and declared the Congress Rythu Mela as a flop show.
Former MP Maloth Kavitha also criticised Congress leaders for allegedly targeting Rama Rao instead of addressing farmers’ grievances. She demanded immediate transportation and procurement of paddy lying at procurement centres across the State.