KCR diverting people’s attention: Bandi Sanjay

Hyderabad: Taking exception to the remarks made by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao against Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy after the Cabinet meeting on Monday, State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said he would take the responsibility of ensuring that the Centre purchases raw rice.

“The Chief Minister’s outburst against Kishan Reddy, who is polite and soft-spoken, is condemnable,” Sanjay said, adding that the BJP would not keep quiet if the State government attempts to close paddy procurement centres during Yasangi. The Chief Minister’s announcement on the procurement issue was nothing but a conspiracy to divert the attention of people, he said.

Speaking to media persons in New Delhi along with two other MPs — Dharmapuri Arvind and Soyam Babu Rao — Sanjay recalled that it was Chandrashekhar Rao who assured that he would purchase every grain from farmers. “Why is only Telangana facing paddy procurement problem when there is no problem in other States,” Sanjay asked. Telangana entered into an agreement with the Centre that only 40 lakh metric tonnes of rice would be sent. But the State government later said that another 40 lakh metric tonnes of rice would be sent. “From where did the additional quantity of rice arrive,” Sanjay asked, adding that the Centre, in an effort to resolve the issue, decided to conduct an acid test to know whether it was old or new rice and where it was cultivated.

Sanjay accused the State government of failing to educate farmers on alternative crops to be cultivated in the next season while it suggested that paddy should not be grown. Sanjay said the BJP would always welcome the State government’s decision to supply free power to farmers. He sought to know why the State government was not clearing Rs 45,000 crore dues to the power utilities and said that 80 per cent of losses were reported from the old city. The Centre gave Rs 120 crore for soil tests in Telangana but the State government failed to do it. Since the Chief Minister regularly refers to Pakistan and Bangladesh, the intelligence agencies should lay more focus on it, he added.

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