The intensely farmer-friendly government of Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy suffered an embarrassment on Wednesday when a farmer was killed and others injured in a stampede during the sale of fertilizers in Warangal district.
According to police, a large number of farmers had gathered to buy fertilizers at a government-run outlet. The large crowd was apparently because the market price for fertilizers is substantially higher.
After some time, the crowd became restless and surged ahead, creating a stampede in which Uppalaiah, 40, was killed. This sparked angry protests by farmers, who blocked road traffic for several hours. They were soon joined by activists of the TDP, TRS and Nava Telengana Praja Party, who shouted slogans against the government.
The administration announced Rs 1 lakh in ex-gratia payment and adequate supply of fertilizers to farmers. But the protesters rejected the compensation, terming it “a pittance”, and demanded at least Rs 5 lakh.