TRS intensifies paddy stir

Protest leads to massive pile-up of vehicles on highways leading to Mumbai, Nagpur, Vijayawada and Bengaluru

Hyderabad: Braving the scorching sun, farmers, ruling party workers and leaders undertook a protest by blocking the four national highways in a bid to mount pressure on the Centre over the paddy procurement issue on Wednesday.

The protesters, who included TRS party workers, elected representatives and Ministers blocked the highways at several locations leading to a massive pile-up of vehicles on the National Highways leading to Mumbai, Nagpur, Vijayawada and Bengaluru. The protestors demanded the Centre procure the entire paddy produced in Telangana, without any conditions.

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Several Ministers, TRS legislators, Parliament members, and the party district presidents led the agitation in their respective areas over the paddy procurement issue. Since 9 am on Wednesday, the TRS leaders, along with farmers came onto the roads and staged demonstrations. The protests concluded by noon, enabling commuters to continue their journey further.

Holding party flags, placards and raising slogans, the protestors staged a sit-in on the highways leading to huge traffic jams on both sides. Some protestors carried the paddy saplings, while others spread bags of paddy grains on the roads to mark their protest. They also burnt the effigies of the Central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They demanded a uniform procurement policy.

A massive protest led by Labour Minister Ch Mallareddy was held on the Hyderabad-Nagpur highway at Medchal, leading to a huge traffic jam for more than two hours. The police took some protestors into custody and shifted them to the police station. MLAs KP Vivekand and MLC Shambhipur Raju led the agitation at Kompally junction.

Leading the rasta roko on Hyderabad-Nagpur highway at Kadthal junction of Nirmal in Adilabad district, Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy said they were staging ‘rasta roko’ not to cause inconvenience to people but to raise their voice over paddy procurement. He called upon the farmers to confront the BJP leaders and question them in their respective villages.

Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister E Dayakar Rao who participated in the protest at Jangaon urged farmers to hoist black flags on houses against the indifferent attitude of the Central government. Excise Minister Srinivas Goud along with other TRS leaders participated in the road blockade on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway near Bhoothpur in Mahabubnagar district. He said the protests would continue till the BJP government at the Centre agrees to procure the entire paddy from Telangana as was done in Punjab and other States.

While Transport Minister P Ajay Kumar and the TRS leaders staged a dharna in Khammam against the Centre’s refusal to buy paddy from Telangana, Medak MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, Patancheru MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy participated in the dharna on NH-65 at Patancheru. The road blockades were also organised at Adilabad on Nagpur national highway, and also at Kodad, Suryapet, Nakrekal and Choutuppal on Vijayawada national highway. Traffic was brought to a halt for several hours, with inter-State transportation especially trucks and containers forced to be parked on the roadside. Many other TRS leaders along with farmers, held protests at several other places on the national highways.

Meanwhile, the TRS MPs continued their stir in the Lok Sabha and served a notice of the adjournment motion for discussion on paddy procurement. They alleged that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was not lifting stocks from the godowns. They demanded a uniform procurement policy for the entire country. With Speaker Om Birla rejecting their notice, the TRS members staged a walkout.

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