Telangana Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief RS Praveen Kumar alleged that the biggest lie propagated by the Telangana government is that of ‘Ab ki baar kisan sarkar’, a slogan often used by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao since his party went national and changed its name to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from TRS. Speaking at a public meeting organised by farmers' rights organisation Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV), former IPS officer Praveen Kumar alleged that despite the promises made in farmers’ favour, the BRS government was working against them.
At the meeting, farmer leaders and activists discussed how nearly one in three farmers in Telangana were classified as tenant farmers who could not access government schemes such as Rythu Bima (an insurance scheme), Rythu Bandhu (an investment support scheme), ex-gratia in case of farmer suicides, or crop loss compensation from the state government.
According to a survey report published by Rythu Swarajya Vedika in December 2022, out of 7,774 farmers surveyed, 2,753 (or nearly 35%) were classified as tenant farmers. If these figures were to be extrapolated for the entire state, there would be about 22 lakh tenant farmers in Telangana. The report specifically pointed out that approximately 97% of tenant farmers did not receive benefits from the Telangana government's flagship initiative, the Rythu Bandhu programme.
Praveen Kumar said that the most important way to fight the ruling dispensation was through political representation. "If all tenant farmers were to say that they will not vote for the ruling party unless their demands are met, it would scare politicians into taking them seriously," he said. Stating that political power is a master key, he urged tenant farmers to not sell their vote to those who wouldn't work for their benefit.