Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary K. Ramakrishna met Telugu Desam Party (TDP) State president K. Atchannaidu on Thursday and sought his support for the 30-hour mass hunger strike to be organised by the Left parties at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada from November 20 in protest against the “injustice being allegedly meted to Andhra Pradesh (AP) in the redistribution of Krishna river water, and the government’s negligence in mitigating the drought impact on farmers.”
Mr. Ramakrishna said the Central government had issued fresh Terms of Reference (ToR) to the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal - II (KWDT) in October in a manner depriving the due share of A.P. in the river water, and warned that unless opposition parties raised their voice, the State would suffer a huge loss.
He insisted that Assembly elections in Telangana, scheduled for later this month, were the motive behind the issuance of the ToR that stood to benefit that State. The Central government did a similar thing at the time of elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, he pointed out.
As far as drought was concerned, Mr. Ramakrishna said the rainfall recorded in the month of August was the lowest in 122 years. Such was the gravity of the situation, with which the State government was least bothered. It was this indifferent of the State that was forcing farmers to end their lives. Therefore, the TDP should throw its weight behind the CPI’s struggle for justice to the farmers, the CPI leader appealed.
