BRS farmers’ meet set to put Congress on trial over broken promises

The BRS intensified its attack on the Congress government ahead of the Rythu Sangrama Sadassu in Warangal, accusing it of failing to fulfil key promises made in the 2022 Warangal Declaration, including farm loan waivers, Rythu Bharosa support and paddy bonus payments

Hyderabad: With the BRS preparing to hold its Rythu Sangrama Sadassu in Warangal on May 6, the Congress government is once again under fire over its promises and delivery to farmers. The BRS is pitching the meeting as a public reckoning on the Congress’s 2022 Warangal Declaration, which pledged what was projected as sweeping relief to Telangana’s farmers, but two and a half years later, the promises are largely delayed, diluted or excluded.

In its much-touted Farmers’ Declaration, the Congress promised a farm loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh, Rs 15,000 per acre under Rythu Bharosa investment support to farmers and tenant farmers, Rs 12,000 financial assistance per year for landless labourers, a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal for paddy over MSP, crop insurance, and a new revenue system after scrapping Dharani. It was projected as a direct corrective to the previous regime and later became a crucial part of the Congress’s election campaign.

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But the gap between promise and delivery has become the Opposition’s main weapon. The BRS has been cornering the Congress for either partially implementing or quietly weakening nearly every major commitment. The biggest flashpoint remains the loan waiver. While the Congress claimed to have waived farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh, amounting to Rs 31,000 crore, the BRS asserted that only 48 per cent of eligible farmers received the benefit.

The same pattern is visible in Rythu Bharosa. The Congress had promised Rs 15,000 per acre per year. Once in office, the Revanth Reddy government capped it at Rs 12,000, citing fiscal stress and land survey exclusions. Tenant farmers, whom the declaration promised to include, were also ignored. Farm labourers too continue to await the promised annual support.

The paddy bonus has also become a point of criticism. The government says it is paying Rs 500 per quintal above MSP for fine variety paddy, but even this commitment now looks uncertain, with reports suggesting that the bonus may be dropped from the next Rabi season because of stock pressure and financial strain. For farmers, that only reinforces the charge that promises made in Warangal have been steadily reduced after reaching Hyderabad.

Seizing on the discontent, the BRS has launched protests across the State in support of farmers. The party has declared that its Warangal Rythu Sangrama Sadassu will remind farmers about the Congress government’s inefficiency in fulfilling its promises. The proposed meeting will also discuss the delay in crop procurement, inadequate irrigation water supply, shortage of fertilisers and seeds, and the looming agrarian crisis in the State. The party has already revealed plans to launch State-wide protests and such farmers’ meetings to target the ruling party.

For the Congress, the Warangal Declaration is turning into a liability rather than a badge of honour. Every incomplete waiver, every delayed payment and every diluted promise has now become political ammunition for its opponents, raising questions over its credibility. What was once projected as a farmers’ charter is increasingly being seen as a promise that was oversold, under-delivered and now firmly under pressure.