Hyderabad: A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah branded Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao ‘anti-farmer’, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) hit back at him saying it is the joke of the century. Taking to Twitter, TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao said on Monday: “Who copied KCR’s brainchild ‘Rythu Bandhu’ & rebranded it as PM-Kisan? Who apologized to the farmers of the nation after facing their wrath over farm laws; After losing 700 valuable lives?”
Addressing a public meeting of the BJP at Munugode Assembly constituency on Sunday, Shah had termed KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, as ‘anti-farmer’. KTR, who is a state minister and son of KCR, pointed out that Shah criticized the Chief Minister for not joining the Centre’s Fasal Bheema Yojana.
“Earlier, Gujarat BJP government too rejected this scheme of NPA Govt & opted out! If it isn’t good for your own home state Gujarat, how is it good for Telangana? What absurd hypocrisy is this?,” asked KTR, who refers to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as Non-Performing Alliance (NPA).
Another state minister G. Jagadish Reddy also slammed Shah for making baseless allegations at the public meeting. Jagadish Reddy said Amit Shah did not respond to the questions posed by KCR at a public meeting in Munugode on Saturday.
“We did not expect a reply because BJP leadership has no answer to the question asked by our leader,” he said. The Chief Minister had asked Shah to reply as to why the Centre failed to give Telangana its due share in Krishna river waters though eight years have passed since the formation of the state.
On the Union Minister’s criticism of the TRS government for not slashing the price of petrol and diesel, Jagadish Reddy said it was like the pot calling the kettle black. He said Shah should tell the people who hiked the prices of petroleum products and what was the quantum of the hike in the last eight years. Jagadish Reddy countered Shah’s comments on the Fasal Bima Yojana. and pointed out that the best insurance policy for farmers was being implemented in Telangana.
Under the Rythu Bima scheme, farmers are being provided Rs 5 lakh insurance coverage and so far families of one lakh farmers have benefited. Terming Shah’s public meeting a “flop show”, another minister Koppula Eshwar said there was no public response to the meeting. This was the reason he finished his speech in 15 minutes, he said.
