TRS holds protests in Telangana against BJP, Centre over paddy procurement from state

The TRS’s decision to organise protests came amid an ongoing war of words between the TRS and BJP over paddy procurement and reducing VAT (value-added tax) on petrol and diesel.

Hyderabad

Rama Rao, attending a dharna in Sircilla, alleged that the Centre refused to procure paddy grown during the summer crop in the State. The summer crop yields parboiled rice.

Intensifying its attack on the BJP and the NDA government at the Centre, the ruling TRS in Telangana on Friday held protests across the state against the Centre’s alleged refusal to procure paddy from the State during the ‘yasangi’ (summer) crop.

TRS Working President and State Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao and other Ministers participated in the protests demanding that the Centre procure the paddy. The TRS’s decision to organise protests came amid an ongoing war of words between the TRS and BJP over paddy procurement and reducing VAT (value-added tax) on petrol and diesel.

TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who sought procurement of the entire paddy grown in the State by the Centre, said on Sunday last that his party would raise the issue in Parliament besides holding dharnas in the districts.

Rama Rao, attending a dharna in Sircilla, alleged that the Centre refused to procure paddy grown during the summer crop in the State. The summer crop yields parboiled rice.

While the State government attempted to make farmers take up alternative crops in view of Centre’s reluctance to buy paddy, the State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar sought to politicise the issue by asking farmers to go for paddy cultivation in the summer season, he said.

Hitting out at Sanjay Kumar, Rama Rao, son of Chandrasekhar Rao, asked whether the TRS government is discouraging farmers to take up paddy cultivation even though the BJP-led Central government is ready to buy paddy from the State.