Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao should respect all political parties and their views instead of being so intolerant, former minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said on Wednesday.

In a statement here, he said the CM was even intolerant of farmers and issuing them warning for burning their produce due to poor procurement process. “When they are angered over not receiving money, their reaction is bound to be harsh,” he said asking the CM to immediately pay all farmers for the produce procured so far.

Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao claimed that ₹35,000 crore were realised to buy every grain but the reality is different, he alleged. Farmers are not getting paid and only 20% of the produce has been procured so far, he claimed. “If officials are not prepared with gunny bags and farmers lose due to unseasonal rains, it reflects your hollowness,” the former minister added.

Mr. Lakshmaiah said the CM was misleading with new figures every day on the PPEs for COVID-19 warriors and his claims of “enough stocks” were hollow. “The CM is always silent on the number of coronavirus tests done but drawing comparisons with other States on several other aspects,” he said.