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KCR declares war on BJP

While I ignored the State BJP leaders targeting me, I will not keep quiet when farmers interests are involved

By Telangana Today

Updated On - 7 November 2021, 10:24 PM

Hyderabad: Political heat shot up several notches in the State with the Telangana Rasthra Samithi president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao declaring a war against what he termed as the diabolical gameplan of the Bharatiya Janata Party to deceive the people of Telangana. The TRS supremo declared that his party which had not adopted a confrontationist attitude towards the Centre so far, would no more keep quiet but fight for its rights and justice.

Setting the tone for what could be an intense political battle in the offing, Chandrashekhar Rao announced that all elected representatives, right from sarpanches to the Cabinet Ministers and MPs would stage a demonstration in Delhi demanding that the Centre procure paddy from Telangana. “We will also raise this issue in Parliament too.”

The Chief Minister, who was firing on all cylinders during his 75-minute-long media conference here on Sunday, denounced what he repeatedly termed as ‘double talk’ by the State BJP leaders in respect of paddy procurement.

What seemed to have angered the Chief Minister was the remark of State BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay asking people to go for paddy plantation saying that they would force the State Government to procure paddy.

Chandrasekhar Rao spent considerable amount of time in explaining how the Centre had repeatedly told Telangana that it would not procure paddy from Telangana this season and how it was given in writing by FCI authorities also.

Likening the State BJP to ‘Silly BJP’, Rao sought to know whether the State silly BJP leaders would convince the Delhi BJP to give it in writing on procuring Paddy in Yasangi season. “While Delhi BJP is refusing to procure paddy, the silly BJP here in the State is egging on farmers to go for paddy plantation. We will not tolerate this irresponsible behaviour and fight it out as it involves the welfare of farmers.” He said Telangana had nurtured the farming community with utmost care and now they are the happiest lot. “We will not allow irresponsible BJP leaders to say anything and put the farmers to loss,” a visibly anguished Chandrasekhar Rao declared.

Maintaining that his government had not preferred to adopt a confrontationist attitude towards the Centre in the interest of the State, Chandrashekhar Rao argued that it would not be so in future.

In a no-holds-barred frontal attack, Rao ridiculed the demand of State BJP leaders that Telangana government reduce the VAT on fuel prices and thundered: “They raise the Central Cess steeply and later reduce it nominally. As the president of TRS and Chief Minister of Telangana I demand the Centre to remove all the Central Cess collected on petrol and diesel.” He explained that while Telangana collected only the Value Added Tax (VAT) which was fixed in 2015, the Centre had increased different taxes manifold. He also pointed out that States were not eligible to get a share of these cesses.