HYDERABAD: Former minister T. Harish Rao has strongly criticised the Congress government in Telangana, accusing it of betraying farmers who trusted it with their votes. Speaking out via social media, he said that the people of Telangana are witnessing the “cruelty” of the ruling dispensation, especially in the wake of the suffering of farmers like Bollam Ramayya and Chandrakala, a couple from Pullayya Banjara village in Kallur mandal, Khammam district.
Referring to their plight, Harish Rao expressed deep anguish, saying it was heart-wrenching to see farmers who leased 18 acres for paddy cultivation now devastated. After braving unseasonal rains, water shortages, and power cuts, the couple managed to harvest their crop and transported it with great hope to the procurement centre. However, even after 20 days, the government failed to purchase the crop.
He said that due to this inaction, unseasonal rains soaked the paddy, rendering it unsellable and causing the farmer to break down in tears in front of his damaged produce. “The government neither bought the grain nor paid compensation,” he added, blaming the Congress administration for turning a natural challenge into a man-made crisis.
Harish Rao claimed that this scene of farmers weeping in their own fields was clear evidence of the government’s apathy. “This is not a calamity of time, but a disaster brought by Congress,” he remarked, alleging that the government had already hurt farmers by denying irrigation water and drying up crops due to power shortages.
He demanded immediate action from the state government, urging it to wake up from its “deep slumber” and respond to the farmers’ cries. “Remember, a kingdom may survive when the bullock cries, but never when the farmer weeps,” he said. He further demanded that every grain of soaked paddy be procured and adequate compensation be paid to all affected farmers due to the government’s negligence.
