A round table meeting on new farm laws and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao taking a U-turn on them felt that there was international pressure behind the laws and KCR had bowed to the pressures of the Central government in supporting them.
The meeting organised by the Telangana Kisan Congress felt that contract farming was increasing in the western countries with the active support of corporates and the same was being thrust on India without understanding the dynamics of Indian agriculture.
It was attended by Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka, All India Congress Committee Secretaries Bose Raju, Ch Vamshichand Reddy, Madhu Yaskhi and G. Chinna Reddy, MLA D Sreedhar Babu, former MP V Hanmantha Rao, former Minister Marri Shashidhar Reddy, All India Kisan Congress vice-president M. Kodanda Reddy, agriculture expert Donthi Narsimha Reddy, Kanneganti Ravi and Kisan Congress State president Anvesh Reddy, among others.
Mr Kodanda Reddy said that the responsibility of opposing the laws was on every individual as not just the farmers but people as customers would also face immense problems with the new laws.
Mr Narsimha Reddy said the new laws would result in the farmers becoming bonded labour in their own lands. He reminded how sugarcane farmers were now forced to depend on the whims and fancies of corporates. Farmers would be forced to cultivate the crops demanded by the corporates but not what the country needed. Unfortunately the Central government didn't even discuss the laws with the farmers before bringing them into force.
Mr Chinna Reddy recalled how KCR had forced the farmers to cultivate fine variety paddy and retracted on his promise of buying them. The same scenario would repeat with the new farm laws. He said Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu was absent in the Rajya Sabha when the bills were passed as he understands how dangerous the laws were to farmers’ interests.
Mr Sreedhar Babu said while the farmers and the Congress were talking about how detrimental the laws were the ruling BJP was misleading the farmers promising doubling the income. There was a need to educate the farmers across the country on the dangers of the new laws.
Stating that the BJP was a party of businessmen, Mr Vikramarka said the BJP government was hurting the federal spirit intruding on the states rights through the new laws.
He said KCR had trumpeted about his Federal Front against the BJP before his New Delhi visit but had come back to totally support the new laws and the BJP. Laws had not changed but KCR had totally changed in favour of the BJP, he charged.
Mr Vikramarka also demanded that a special session of the Assembly be convened to negate the farm laws as was done by Congress-ruled states.
