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Cong tells TDP to withdraw support

Congress Working Committee member and former chief minister Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy on Saturday asked the Telugu Desam Party to withdraw support to the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre over its failure to come to the rescue of farmers in Andhra Pradesh.

Vijayabhaskar Reddy told newsmen: "The chief minister is raving and ranting on his helplessness to mitigate the plight of farmers. When the NDA government is dependent on the TDP for survival, he (Chandrababu Naidu) should threaten to withdraw support, to secure a better deal for the farmers in the state."

He alleged that during the five years of Naidu's rule, 500 farmers committed suicide in the state, including 150 in Anantapur district, due to crop failure and mounting debts. ''The spate of suicides is unprecedented. Never since Independence have so many farmers ended their lives. If the chief minister fails to act now to mitigate the sufferings of farmers, many more suicides will take place,'' he warned.

Vijayabhaskar Reddy said that the farmers were facing an unprecedented crisis but Naidu failed to exert enough pressure on the NDA government for market intervention to save the farmers. In sharp contrast, the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana, also allies of the NDA government, exerted pressure and extracted better deals for farmers of their states.

"There is no point in continuing to support the NDA government if Naidu is unable to secure a better deal for the state farmers. The visit of (Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution) Shanta Kumar has not improved procurement. The TDP dharna in Parliament has also gone waste. It did not serve any purpose. The Food Corporation of India is not lifting paddy stocks," the former chief minister pointed out.

Accusing the TDP government of abdicating responsibility to bail out hapless farmers, he said, "This is a grave situation. The TDP government must act. Instead of taking crisis management measures, the government should have taken steps in advance to minimise the crisis."

"The chief minister talks about Vision-2020 but does not know what is happening beneath his feet. He betrays total ignorance about the sorry plight of the farmers who are unable to get minimum support prices for their produce. He is simply interested in Information Technology, Internet and international CEO conferences," Reddy observed.

He said that the state's financial position was quite serious. ''The state government is unable to pay salaries of employees. Yet, the government has agreed to undertake procurement of 700,000 tonnes of paddy through state agencies. Where is the money to undertake such procurement? Let the chief minister explain," he stated.

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