Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and Nalgonda Lok Sabha member of Parliament (MP) N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday demanded Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao to convene a special session of the Legislative Assembly to pass a unanimous resolution against the three new ‘anti-farmers’ laws that were introduced and pushed by the Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Centre.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also asked KCR to pass new laws in the state Legislature under Article 254(2) of the Constitution to override the central laws. Addressing an online press conference, he announced that the Congress party would organise massive protests before the statues of Mahatma Gandhi or at district collectorates across Telangana on October 2 as part of a nationwide agitation demanding withdrawal of the controversial agricultural laws. He asked the party cadre to participate in large numbers to make the programme a huge success.
The TPCC chief also strongly “suspected” the sincerity of KCR in opposing the three new agricultural laws. “The Chief Minister’s opposition to the new laws was an eye-wash and he was still backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he had done in the past. KCR should emulate the Congress-ruled states in opposing the new central laws,” Utta Kumar Reddy said.
Stating that the agriculture and trade were state subjects, Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the Centre is trying to encroach upon the rights of the states through the implementation of the new agricultural laws. Both, the BJP government at the Centre and the TRS government in Telangana were implementing anti-farmer laws, he alleged. “The previous Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and in the united Andhra Pradesh state had waived-off crop loans in a single take to help the farmers. Farmers were also given interest free loans, quality and free power besides ensuring MSP (Minimum Support Price) for their produce,” the TPCC chief added.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also alleged that corruption was at its peak in Telangana. Citing instances, he said that the Anti-Corruption Bureau had seized over Rs.1 crore in bribes from one Tashilar, while a similar amount was recovered from an Additional Collector (of a district). He said the arrests of those two officials only signify the level of corruption at the Chief Minister’s level. “The KCR government is trying to survive only through media management and by misusing police force against opposition parties. People have realised that the time has now come to teach KCR a fitting lesson in the next elections,” he stated.