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The protest against Pharmacity has taken on a contentious turn, with ten farmers alleging that their nomination papers for Jubilee Hills bye-elections were intentionally rejected. The allegations were made at a press conference held at Hyderabad’s Somajiguda Press Club on Wednesday, November 5. The 10 farmers from Ibrahimpatnam division’s Yacharam mandal were planning on filing their nominations for the Jubilee Hills bye-poll to voice their protest against CM Revanth Reddy’s brainchild, the ‘Future City’ project.
A group of around 50 activists and farmers, who have been protesting against Pharmacity under the banner of ‘Movement Against Pharmacity’, have alleged that their attempt to protest against Big Pharma and the Telangana government was being thwarted. The bye-polls are scheduled to be held on November 11.
The Future City project was announced by the Chief Minister in July 2024, seven months after the Congress won the Telangana Assembly elections in December 2023. The project intends to incorporate the pharma sector along with AI, medical tourism, and sports, aiming for a more diverse and sustainable "net-zero carbon" city covering over 19,000 acres across Kandukur, Yacharam, and Kadthal mandals of the Ranga Reddy district.
“In 2023, the Congress party promised in its manifesto that if it comes to power, it will cancel the Pharmacity project (introduced by the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi-led government) and protect farmers’ lands. But violating that promise, they gave an affidavit in the Telangana High Court that the Pharmacity will be established,” a note issued by the Movement Against Pharmacity read.
For the farmers in Kandukur, Yacharam and Kadthal mandals, the current Future City project and the previous Pharma City project infringe on their land rights, and they have been continually protesting against it.
“Contesting in the bye-poll was yet another means of protest,” Saraswati Kavula, the Convener of Movement Against Pharmacity, told TNM. “As MLA aspirants, we would be allowed to campaign in one of the most well-known areas of Hyderabad. We wanted to hold a protest rally at KBR park and tell the public why we were opposed to the Congress government.”
Farmers blame EC and police
But the plan, Saraswati says, was short-lived. “We wanted to file our nominations by October 18 but were unable to do so because the Ibrahimpatnam Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) was unwilling to give us the extract of the electoral roll until the night of October 19,” Saraswati alleged. The extract of the electoral roll is essential to show proof that a candidate is a registered voter.
“Our candidates did not receive any help at the election help desk. Finally, we submitted all the documents on October 21, which was the final day to file nominations,” Saraswati said. Gaddam Ravinder, one of 10 farmers who filed his nomination, believes that the Telangana police worked to ensure that farmers’ nominations were rejected.
“Outside the Shaikpet Mandal Revenue Office (MRO), a group of around 100 farmers held a small protest on October 21 before filing nominations. It was easy to identify us, as all of us were wearing green scarves. We went in, filed our nominations, and the election officials stated that everything was fine,” he told TNM.
“But our people were approached by someone claiming to be a journalist who took down all the nominees' names. We suspect that he was a police official because journalists weren’t allowed inside the office. To add to it, the Ibrahimpatnam Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) was also present at the MRO office. I asked him if he was there on election duty, and he said he wasn’t,” Ravinder added, hinting at a deliberate attempt to foil any public criticism against the ruling Congress.
“On the morning of October 23, we learnt that the nominations of all 10 farmers were rejected. We wrote to the EC’s General Observer and the Chief Electoral Officer asking for an explanation but were met with unsatisfactory responses,” Saraswati added.
Why were the nominations rejected?
Saraswati showed TNM the rejected affidavit filed by Sai Reddy, one of the farmers from Yacharam. “We were informed that the rejection was based on ‘blanks in the affidavit’ when in fact, there were no blanks. If anything, Sai Reddy’s affidavit was similar to that of Congress MLA candidate Naveen Yadav. When that was pointed out, officials with the EC told us that in Naveen Yadav’s affidavit, the text continued to the next page.”
TNM also accessed two letters penned by Sai Reddy to the General Observer and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), pointing out that even his affidavit’s text continued seamlessly onto the next page.
They are yet to receive a reply. “It's amusing because at the time of filing nominations BJP candidate Lankala Deepak Reddy’s affidavit didn’t even have his passport photo attached to it, and yet his affidavit wasn’t rejected,” Saraswati added.
As per the Conduct of Election Rules 1961, a candidate must fill up all particulars in Form 26 issued by the Election Commission, which includes a photograph.
This form of protest by farmers is not new in Telangana. Ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections, farmers in Kamareddy district threatened to file numerous nominations against BRS candidate and then CM K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) in the Kamareddy Assembly constituency following a row over the proposed master plan for Kamareddy municipality. The masterplan, the farmers feared, would replace their agrarian land with industrialisation.
Though they won from Siddipet and Kodangal constituencies, KCR and incumbent CM Revanth lost the Kamareddy seat in the Assembly elections owing to the lack of farmers’ support.
A similar view was echoed by Ravinder. “I have four acres of land. At best, my land will be polluted by the proposed Future City, and at worst, I could lose my land. Every minister in the Congress government has now come to my village to campaign. We campaigned for them because they vowed to scrap the Pharma City. But now we stand against both parties,” Ravinder said.