Senior TDP leader and former Minister Alapati Raja has criticised Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for failing to safeguard the interests of the farmers in the last more than four years.
Addressing the media here at the party office on September 8 (Friday), Mr. Raja said that the YSRCP government in the State, after failing to educate the farmers on alternative crops in the last nine crop seasons, was suggesting them to go for crop holidays now.
He alleged that seeds were not available for the farmers at the Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) as claimed by the government. Mr. Raja further alleged that there were no contingency plans should there be scarcity of water.
The TDP leader observed that when the Telangana government was using water beyond the permitted level, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy could not prevent it. “The Chief Minister is more interested in suppressing the voice of his sister Sharmila in the neighbouring State,” he added.
Mr. Raja also alleged that Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy was responsible for the farmers’ suicides in the State as he failed to ensure remunerative prices for the farm produce. In the last four years, there were no subsidies to the farmers for purchasing seed or for other inputs. He alleged that the Chief Minister had put an additional burden in the form of higher power charges. Mr. Raja said that people of the State would give a befitting reply in the Assembly elections.