A group of farmers in Telangana's Nizamabad district on Tuesday, April 12, dumped paddy in front of BJP Member of Parliament (MP) Dharmapuri Arvind's residence to protest against the Union government's refusal to procure paddy from Telangana. A group of farmers dumped a tractor load of paddy in front of the Nizamabad MP’s residence at Armoor. They were carrying placards and raising slogans against the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The farmers, including women, demanded that the Union government should procure the entire quantity of paddy grown in Telangana during the ongoing Rabi season. One of the farmers alleged that the BJP-led Union government is discriminating towards Telangana. The farmers demanded that the BJP MP fulfill his assurance given to them that the Union government will procure paddy.
Watch a video of the incident:
Farmers in Telangana dumped their paddy harvest in front of BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri's house demanding that the Union government procure their crop.@thenewsminute pic.twitter.com/XnNOqYGAPP
— CharanTeja (@CharanT16) April 12, 2022
This is the first such protest by farmers in Telangana since the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) launched an agitation over the issue. This protest came a day after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, his entire state Cabinet, TRS MPs, state legislators and other party leaders staged a protest in Delhi, demanding the Union government procure paddy from Telangana as was done from other states.
The Chief Minister has set a 24-hour deadline for the Narendra Modi government to take a decision over the state's demand. The state Cabinet is scheduled to meet in Hyderabad later in the day and is likely to chalk out a future course of action. For the last two weeks, the TRS has been staging protests across Telangana to press its demand. The BJP also staged a counter-protest in Hyderabad on Monday, blaming the TRS government for the current situation. It demanded that the Chief Minister either procure paddy from farmers or quit his post.