Hyderabad

Criticisingthe Congress government in Telangana over the alleged delay in crop purchases, the opposition parties—BJP, BRS, and TRS—on Friday urged the government to buy farmers’ produce without further delay. Referring to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s remarks on Thursday that 80 per cent of the produce had been procured from farmers, BRS working president K T Rama Rao said no paddy procurement centre was functioning properly.

He told reporters that he was ready to face any punishment if it was proven that 80 per cent of the procurement had indeed been completed.

He alleged that farmers had been waiting for the last 45 days for their crops to be procured. The ryots were facing several hardships, as they had to pay for gunny bags and tractor waiting charges, he claimed, adding that even drinking water was unavailable at the centres.

The BRS leader demanded that the Congress government release a crop-wise white paper detailing procurement carried out so far during the current Rabi season. Referring to the CM’s recent comments that Congress would win the next Assembly elections in 2028 and that he would continue for a second term, Rama Rao said that if Reddy was confident of Congress being re-elected, both BRS and Congress should seek a fresh mandate from the people.