Published 22:42 IST, July 8th 2020
YSRCP should celebrate 'Farmers' Betrayal Day', says TDP's Chandrababu Naidu
TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu asserted that the ruling YSRCP government in the state has no moral right to celebrate 'Rythu Dinotsavam' (Farmers' Day)
Even as the Andhra Pradesh government observed the 71st birth anniversary of former chief minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy as Farmers’ Day on Wednesday, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday asserted that the ruling YSRCP government in the state has no moral right to celebrate 'Rythu Dinotsavam' (Farmers' Day) and said it should instead observe 'Farmers' Betrayal Day' because of its utter negligence towards agriculture and irrigation.
Naidu questioned if it was not the utter failure of the government for spending just 35% of the budget allocation made for agriculture. "The YSRCP could not spend 65 per cent allocations for farmers while TDP increased 10 per cent budget and spent Rs 90,000 Cr for agriculture during its five-year rule," he said.
Naidu's charges on YSRCP govt
The TDP chief, during a video conference with the party senior leaders, MLAs and MLCs, said that the 'Rythu Bharosa' was not a new programme, but just a duplicate for the TDP's 'Annadata Sukheebhava' scheme.
"By changing the programme, the ruling party had caused a loss of Rs 80,000 to every farmer over a period of five years. The YSRCP regime was giving just Rs 37,500 for each farmer in five years while the TDP would have given Rs 1.20 lakh. Even Rythu Bharosa was denied to over 10 lakh farmers. Only Rs 100 crore was spent on Sunnavaddi programme contrary to a budget allocation of Rs 1,100 crore for it. False claims were being made on repayment of Rs 1,050 crore old arrears under Sunnavaddi," Naidu alleged.
The former chief minister felt that the YSRCP has not doled out Rs 7,000 corer loan waiver even as chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy was dividing farmers along community lines in order to mislead them.
"In the name of caste, over 13 lakh tenant farmers were not given Rythu Bharosa. The ruling party was celebrating Rythu Dinotsavam obviously because it has become responsible for the suicides of many farmers for sacrificing their lands for Amaravati as the state capital. Under TDP, an 11% growth rate was recorded in agriculture and allied sectors, but the YSRCP brought it down to single-digit growth. Aquaculture growth came down from 34% to just 5%. False claims are being made on the Rs 3,000 crore market intervention scheme. Massive public funds are misused for huge publicity," Naidu said.
Updated 22:42 IST, July 8th 2020