Guntur, December 31: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu has declared that the fight for the cause of farmers would continue till they get the best package ever.
Addressing a huge gathering of farmers at the public meeting, Rytu Kosam, here today, Naidu said he would convene an allparty meeting at Delhi soon and continue the agitation.
The party would study the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal report on Krishna Water Disputes and announce an action plan, as the report was against the interests of farmers of the three regions in the state, he said.
This was the first public appearance of Naidu after he called off his indefinite hunger strike following forcible injection of IV fluids to him by the government recently.
“I will not mind to sacrifice my life for the sake of farmers,” Naidu said. However, the huge gathering of farmers reacted with a loud ‘no’ to his sacrifice move.
“This Guntur meeting should be a new chapter in the history of farmers of the country,” Naidu said. He came down heavily on the Central and State governments for neglecting the farmers when they were in distress. Those who could not protect the farmers should resign and go, Naidu thundered.
Naidu recalled how he had fought in the Assembly for farmers’ cause and how the government dragged the issue in the name of cases against students. “The State government has eventually dropped all the cases against students after the Congress MPs’ fast. In that case, it should have done that earlier and allowed a discussion in the Assembly,” Naidu felt. He dared the Congress MPs to launch a fast for the cause of farmers. “Let the Congress MPs take the credit,” he added.
The farmers need only Rs 5,000 to 6,000 cr to come out of the distress, which was just a fraction of the Rs 1.7 lakh crore siphoned off by the Congress in the 2G spectrum scam, he said.
On the Krishna Tribunal verdict, Naidu said the State government had failed to protect the interests of farmers. I had fought with Deve Gowda to decrease the height of the Almatti dam from 524 mts to 519 mts. But now the Tribunal again allowed to increase the height to 524 mts, Naidu lamented. When Naidu recalled that he was responsible for the Chief Ministers’ Committee against Almatti, Deve Gowda had already left the meeting venue.
CPM general secretary Prakash Karat demanded that the Centre should implement the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan Committee. “All of us will fight unitedly for farmers,” Karat said.
Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda said Naidu gave a new dimension to the farmers’ fight. Former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi, INLD leader Om Prakash Choutala, MDMK leader Ganesh Murthy, CPI deputy general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, Forward Block leader Devaraj and TDP leader Harikrishna were among those who spoke.
–Agencies