In a departure from his typical approach of criticising both the Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), KCR specifically targeted the Congress party in his recent statements I Photo: PTI (File)

KCR attacks Centre; says it doesn't like it when a state does something for farmers

The Federal
22 May 2022 6:48 PM IST

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is in Chandigarh to pay tributes to farmers who died during the anti-farm law stir last year and soldiers killed in the Galwan Valley clash, appealed to farmers’ leaders to continue their agitation against the Centre until they get constitutional guarantees on support prices for crops.

“Farmers can topple governments, it’s not a big thing,” he said. KCR called upon the farmers to launch a nationwide agitation which, he said, he will join and support along with other opposition parties like the Aam Aadmi Party. Consistently raising the pitch on farmers’ issues, Mr Rao seems to be setting the tone for his national ambitions in politics, reports NDTV.

Rakesh Tikait takes part

Prominent farmers’ leader Rakesh Tikait was also present at the event along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

KCR has repeatedly attacked the Centre over farmers’ issues, including rising fertiliser prices, “faulty” Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and fuel costs. Last month he held a protest in Delhi demanding that the Centre procure 15 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice from the state.

Also read: As tension simmers, KCR gives Centre ’24 hours’ to buy paddy from Telangana

In Chandigarh, he addressed the families of 600 farmers who died during the year-long agitation and also announced a Telangana government compensation of Rs 3 lakh each for the deceased farmers’ families.

‘Have done much for farmers’

Highlighting his government’s achievements, KCR said before Telangana was formed farmers were in dire straits with many committing suicide. He claimed there was little to no electricity, and lots of problems nobody addressed. “After Telangana was formed, the electricity issue was fixed. We provide high quality 24 hours power supply for free,” he said.

Criticising the Centre, he claimed that they insist Telangana install electricity meters and not give away electricity for free. He said he refused, saying he would rather die than install meters. “Whenever a state does something for farmers, they don’t like it,” he added.

Eying a national role in politics, KCR has been meeting prominent opposition leaders. He had earlier met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Delhi and on May 26 will meet former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda In Bengaluru. He will then go to Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra to meet social activist Anna Hazare.

Also read: KCR’s Delhi ambitions remain non-starters; son KTR’s succession in jeopardy