The protesting BRS workers.
Hyderabad: Farmers led by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) workers held a sit-in protest on the main road near Sarampalli village of Tangallapalli mandal in Vemulawada assembly constituency on Monday, May 25, demanding that the state government procure the entire paddy produce of the farmers.
The protesters held a paddy bag and blocked the road, causing an interruption to traffic on the Siddipet-Hyderabad route. The police tried to convince the farmers that their issue would be looked after, and urged them not to create inconvenience to the traffic.
One of the protesters, who claimed to be a BRS worker, said that despite Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy claiming that 90 per cent of the paddy has been procured, the situation at the Paddy Procurement Centres (PPC) was different.
He claimed that the rice millers were not accepting paddy, saying that they would do so only on the orders of the Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO) or the Collector. He said that there were still many farmers at the PPCs waiting for their produce to be procured.
The BRS workers warned that if the entire paddy of the farmers was not procured immediately, they would hold a protest in front of Vemulawada MLA and Government Whip Adi Srinivas’ residence.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers also joined the protest.
Adi Srinivas, addressing the media in Hyderabad on Monday, said that BRS and BJP were “doing drama together” in the name of paddy procurement.
Admitting the shortage of lorries for transporting paddy was a reason for the delay in procurement, he said steps were being taken to use sand lorries and tractors for paddy transportation, and the issue was being addressed.
Assuring that the state government will procure the entire paddy produce from the farmers, Srinivas said that even in case of the paddy getting soaked in rain or changing colour, the Chief Minister has assured that such paddy will also be procured.
Stating that the BJP had no right to comment against the paddy procurement, he said that despite more than 1 crore tonne paddy being produced in the state in the Rabi season, the Centre has agreed to procure only 52 lakh tonne through the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
The Vemulawada MLA said that irrespective of whether the Centre will procure or not, the state government was ready to procure 70 lakh tonne in addition to the quantity the Centre has agreed to procure.
This post was last modified on May 25, 2026 4:22 pm