TRS holds State-wide protests over Centre’s anti-farmer policies

Telangana sent a strong signal to the BJP government at the Centre on Monday that it will not tolerate its anti-farmers’ policies and brazen discrimination of the State in paddy procurement, as thousands of farmers joined TRS leaders and activists across the State to protest against the Union government’s stubborn attitude. Cities, towns and villages reverbrated to the sounds of ‘Chavu Dappu,’ a form of drum beat that is typically associated with funeral processions even as farmers and TRS activists took out rallies and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Such was the anger of farmers that in several villages, they made effigies of the Prime Minister and burnt them in their agriculture fields in a symbolically significant protest. Going by the active and voluntary participation of farmers across the State, the protest call given by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao to bring pressure on the BJP government at the Centre was a thumping success.

Ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other public representatives joined the protests. Finance Minister Harish Rao led the protest in Gajwel, while Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar participated in the demonstration in Khammam. Tribal Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod joined the protest organised at the agriculture market in Mahabubabad district. Forest Minister A Indrakaran Reddy and Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy led the protests in Nirmal and Chevalla respectively. Attacking the BJP-led NDA government, they demanded that the Centre purchase paddy produced in the ongoing Vaanakalam season, as well as the coming Yasangi crop.

There were attempts to provoke the TRS cadres as happened in



Nalgonda, where ABVP activists sought to launch a counter-protest at Clock Tower Centre in the town where TRS activists and farmers were already staging a protest. The ABVP activists burnt an effigy of Chandrashekhar Rao seeking ‘justice for failed intermediate first year students.’ The TRS activists, however, remained calm despite the provocation. The face-off between the ABVP activists and the police led to tension for some time but they were finally bundled into a van and taken out of the area.

The protests were held amid growing tension between the ruling party and BJP over paddy procurement from the State, with the former launching counter attacks to the accusations made by the latter on the issue. This is the third phase of protests organised by the TRS, with party leaders and cadres staging sit-in in all Assembly constituencies earlier. Later, the Chief Minister himself led a three-hour protest at Dharna Chowk in Hyderabad.

Though the TRS planned to organise the demonstrations from 10 am, farmers in several villages of erstwhile districts of Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Warangal and Medak voluntarily held protests in the main junctions of respective villages much ahead of the scheduled time. Demonstrations were held in Chinthakunta of Kathalapur mandal in Jagtial district, Bandalingapur of Rajanna-Sircilla district, Jammikunta of Karimnagar district.

In Nalgonda, the farmers burnt the effigy of  Prime Minister Narendra Modi in some villages and near agricultural fields.They also extended their support to the TRS government, which was fighting against the Centre for its decision not to procure parboiled rice from the State for the Yasangi crop season.