At Maha rally, Telangana CM calls for unity of farmers to resolve their issues

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said the condition of farmers never changed in the last 75 years when mainly two parties remained in power and called for the unity of agriculturists.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said the condition of farmers never changed in the last 75 years when mainly two parties remained in power and called for the unity of agriculturists. Speaking at a rally in Loha tehsil in Nanded district of Maharashtra, around 214 km from here, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader said the Maharashtra government decided to give Rs 6,000 assistance to farmers only after he addressed a gathering in Nanded last month.

''In the past 75 years, only two parties have ruled the country whereas other parties got nearly five years. But we don't find any difference in the condition of farmers,'' Rao said in a veiled swipe at the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Appealing to farmers to unite, Rao said, ''when you showed your power in the past, the rulers had to apologise. We should not get divided along the lines of religions but unite as peasants''.

He said 41 crore acres of land in India is suitable for agriculture. ''I came here only once and a provision to give each farmer Rs 6,000 per year was found in the Maharashtra budget. Why was it never done earlier? ''This aid is like sprinkling water on a fire. We do not want it. We want Rs 10,000 should be given to farmers per acre who can utilise it for investing in agricultural activities,'' Rao said.

He also took potshots at BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for saying that Rao should concentrate on Telangana.

''I appeal to Fadnavis to implement 24-hour water, free electricity for farmers, and purchase their yield. I will stop coming to Maharashtra,'' the Telangana CM said.

He called for the optimum and smart utilisation of natural resources like coal and water. ''We are utilising only 19,000 TMC of water of 75,000 TMC but the rest flows into the Bay of Bengal. We have ample coal which can provide electricity for the next 125 years to the country. Despite this, farmers are facing problems,'' he said. Rao announced BRS would contest Panchayat elections in Maharashtra. ''BRS leaders will visit villages and membership drives will be organised,'' he added. He claimed the Telangana government under him improved the condition of farmers over years.

''Some eight-nine years ago, Telangana was in bad condition. Farmers were committing suicide in large numbers. But we changed the governance and reduced their burden. If Telangana can improve why a state like Maharashtra which has more resources, cannot improve?'' Rao asked.

Former Lok Sabha MP from Maharashtra Haribhau Rathod, ex-MLAs Shankar Dhondge and Harshvardhan Jadhav, and local political leaders joined the BRS in the presence of KCR, as Rao is popularly known, at the rally on Sunday.

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