Farmers of Anantapur district will take the lead in revolting against the State government’s policies, according to TDP national general secretary N. Lokesh.
Addressing the media at Gooty in the district on Friday, after visiting the fields where farmers had lost standing crops due to heavy rains, Mr. Lokesh said the plan to fix smart meters to the farm connections would sound the death knell for the YSRC government, and warned the State against going ahead with its plan.
Flaying the government for releasing a paltry ₹39 crore towards providing relief to the farmers, he said the amount was insufficient even for one mandal.
“Groundnut farmers, who cultivated the crop in 10 lakh acres, alone will require ₹2,000 crore,” Mr. Lokesh observed.
Accusing the government of reacting only after the Opposition pointed to the loopholes in the system, or shoddy implementation of projects, Mr Lokesh said, “In the last 15 months, not a single farmer received input subsidy, drip irrigation tools, interest-free loan, or crop insurance. No Minister or MLA is available for review of the situation. Andhra Pradesh is in an absolute state of paralysis,” he said.
Advice to Jagan
Referring to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s claim of being a ‘Rayalaseema bidda’, Mr. Lokesh wondered where he had gone when the Rayalaseema farmers were in distress.
Over 750 farmers had taken the extreme step in the last 15 months, he said, and advised the Chief Minister to undertake a ‘padayatra’ again to take stock of the situation under his rule.