Shocked that Goyal kept Ministerial delegation from Telangana waiting for 3 days: Harish Rao

Hyderabad: Finance Minister T Harish Rao said he was astonished that Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal chose to keep the Ministerial delegation from Telangana waiting for three days for an appointment, but chose to meet BJP leaders from the State first. He also strongly objected to the Union Minister blaming the […]

Hyderabad: Finance Minister T Harish Rao said he was astonished that Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal chose to keep the Ministerial delegation from Telangana waiting for three days for an appointment, but chose to meet BJP leaders from the State first. He also strongly objected to the Union Minister blaming the State government for not procuring paddy from farmers. “Telangana has procured over 55 lakh tonnes of paddy as on date, while another 30 lakh tonnes of paddy is lying in the market yards,” he pointed out.

“There is nothing more important for us than the welfare of our farmers. It is the BJP which has changed its stance over paddy procurement and now trying to blame the State government for its failures. We are not beggars. Our Ministers are in Delhi to remind the Centre of its responsibilities and also fight on behalf of our farmers. If the Central government cannot fulfill its responsibities towards farmers, let them transfer the powers to the States. Farmers will teach them a lesson,” he asserted at a media conference here on Wednesday.

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In a point-by-point rebuttal to the Union Minister’s remarks, Harish Rao said numerous letters were written to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), railway authorities and the Union governments seeking allocation of rakes and storage space in godowns to supply pending rice. He reminded that the BJP government at the Centre was not the first to purchase rice from the farmers and wondered why the current government at the Centre was creating all these issues. “We are only demanding for a uniform procurement policy and want the Central government to treat all States equally,” he said.

He stated that the BJP leadership was unnecessarily politicising an issue which was intertwined with the livelihood of lakhs of farmers. He said the BJP has a history of not keeping up with its promises and changing its stand on various issues. “BJP cannot be believed at face value. They must give it in writing enhancing paddy targets, if they have any concern for farmers of Telangana,” he demanded.

Harish Rao ridiculed Goyal’s statement that the TRS was politicising the issue only to divert attention from its defeat in Huzurabad bypolls, stating that winning and losing was common in politics. He reminded that BJP lost several sitting seats in the past including MLC N Ramchander Rao in latest elections.

Also read: Harish Rao demands apology from Piyush Goyal for ‘humiliating’ State delegation

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