On the 14th of September, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) launched a State wide protest against what they term as the YSRC Party’s anti farmer policies.
According to sources, the Nara Chandrababu Naidu led TDP started the Rythu Kosam Telugu Desam. The protest was called to raise their voice against the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) introducing anti farmers’ policies. In regard to this, the TDP National President Mr. Nara Chandrababu Naidu submitted a memorandum to the officials of Nandyal, Kurnool, Hindupur, Anantapur and Kadapa parliamentary constituencies.
The state wide protest was started from the 14th of September, in the aforementioned constituencies and would be intensified across the State of Andhra Pradesh. The TDP leaders and cadres raised slogans and placards against the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy Government.
The Nara Chandrababu Naidu led TDP questioned the stance of the YSRCP towards farmers and the agriculture sector. They termed the new policies, like withdrawal of subsidies and benefits, as anti farmers policies. The opposition said, due to the new policy, debts and problems of cultivators and farmers are rising. The TDP protesters brought and displayed different crops to highlight how lack of support had hit the farmers very hard, making their lives difficult.
Mr. Nara Chandrababu Naidu said, “Farmers are languishing due to lack of seeds and fertilisers, the two critical inputs, even as the agricultural season begins. The Government doesn’t seem to have a policy or a plan to handle the situation.” He further added, “The State does not even have a regular agriculture minister while the Chief Minister and other ministers are busy making rounds of New Delhi. Taking advantage of the situation, the seed companies and dealers are exploiting the farmers by jacking up the prices.”
The TDP leaders said the State Agricultural Department is deaf to the issues of farmers and is not functioning properly for their growth and development. All sorts of subsidies were being cut and withdrawn with an ulterior plan to crush the farm sector. The main agenda behind the statewide Rythu Kosam Telugu Desam protest is to pressure the YSRCP Government to save farmers from deepening financial crisis.
It is to be noted, the state wide protest called by the TDP would continue till the 18th of September.
