Amaravati: Deputy chief minister of Andhra Pradesh (AP) Dharmana Krishna Das slammed Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday for “shedding crocodile tears for farmers” after the latter launched its ‘Rytu Kosam TDP’ campaign. Krishna Das claimed that Naidu neglected and cheated farmers during his 14-year tenure as chief minister.
Speaking to the media at the YSRCP central office, Das listed out the promises made by Chandrababu Naidu before the 2014 elections and said the previous government didn’t fulfill the promises and thus people rejected his Telugu Desam Party. (TDP)
Krishna Das’s statements were in response to TDP’s announcement of state-wide protests for five consecutive days from September 13 to 17 against the “anti-farmer” policies pursued by AP chief minister and YSRCP supremo Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government.
In a press statement on Tuesday, Krishna Das said that the state government under the leadership of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has implemented many pro-farmer programs for their welfare. He flayed Naidu for ignoring waiving off farm loans, providing nine-hour electricity for agriculture, setting up a price stabilization fund of Rs 5,000 core, and implementation of Swaminathan Committee recommendations.
He said, unlike Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP, Naidu also ignored Veligonda, Galeru- Nagiri, Handri Neeva, and Polavaram projects. He further said that the chief minister has taken agriculture as a priority subject and fulfilled all the promises made for farmers despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
He argued for the state government and added that the YSRCP has spent Rs 17,030 crore for the YSR Rytu Bharosa scheme and modernized 8,358 electric substations at a cost of Rs 1,700 crore to provide nine-hour quality power to farmers. He also brought up the fact of the state government clearing the pending arrears of Rs 20,000 crore of the previous government.
Das stated that the chief minister has implemented a crop insurance scheme for Rs 1 alongside setting up of price stabilization fund of Rs 3,000 crore and a Natural Disaster Management Fund of Rs 2,000 crore for the welfare of the farmers.
He warned TDP leaders to stop spreading false information on farmers’ welfare and asserted that the state government has been supporting farmers in all possible ways.