TRS to boycott Parliament session; says wants BJP govt to go

Accusing the Centre of being anti-farmer, the TRS announced on Tuesday that its MPs will boycott both houses of Parliament for the remainder of the Winter Session and said it wants the BJP-led government to go.Shouting slogans against the government and in support of farmers, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi TRS MPs staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha of Tuesday.

Accusing the Centre of being ''anti-farmer'', the TRS announced on Tuesday that its MPs will boycott both houses of Parliament for the remainder of the Winter Session and said it wants the BJP-led government to go.

Shouting slogans against the government and in support of farmers, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha of Tuesday. All of them were dressed in black.

Party leader Keshav Rao accused the Centre of being insensitive to farmers' demands, while asserting that the TRS is an opposition party, not a fence-sitter, and it wants this government to go.

''This is an anti-farmer government, insensitive to the demands of the farmers. Today, piles of grains are rotting on the roads in Telangana for the simple reason that the FCI is not lifting the produce,'' he said, adding that no elected representative likes to boycott Parliament, but the TRS is being forced to do so by the Centre.

''Please be clear that we are against this government. We are an opposition party, not a fence-sitter, and we want this BJP-led government to go,'' Keshav Rao said while interacting with reporters after announcing that the party will boycott the remainder of the session.

The nine Lok Sabha MPs and seven Rajya Sabha MPs of the party will not attend the rest of the session, he said.

The TRS has been raising the issue of procurement of paddy by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from Telangana, party leader in the Lok Sabha Nama Nageshwar Rao said, adding that it was denied to raise this farmers' issue in Parliament.

For nine straight days, the TRS gave notices in both houses of Parliament to flag the issue but was not given the opportunity, he said.

It is the Centre's responsibility to procure paddy from the southern state and give farmers their due, Nageshwar Rao said, adding that the TRS has been demanding that a bill be introduced in Parliament for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) on crops.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)