Vijayawada: Agriculture minister K Atchannaidu refuted allegations of YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on alleged neglect of farmers, accusing him of misleading farmers and the public with fabricated allegations.

He said Jagan, unable to hide the failures of his five-year ‘Tughlaq-style rule,’ is now acting like an ‘ambassador of lies,’ twisting facts about the present government’s support to farmers.

In a statement on Thursday, Atchannaidu asserted that the coalition government under Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is implementing transparent and scientific measures to strengthen agriculture, unlike the previous regime which repeatedly betrayed farmers. He stated that Jagan’s attempts to create confusion will not succeed, as people clearly understand who truly supported them during crises.

The minister pointed out that the government had already spent over Rs 800 crore on Minimum Support Price (MSP) interventions in 16 months and allocated Rs 300 crore in the 2025–26 Budget for market stabilisation.

He said the coalition government extended record support: Rs 271 crore for tobacco, Rs 261 crore for mango, Rs 125 crore for onion, Rs 14 crore for cocoa and Rs 12 crore for tomato.

In contrast, he said the YSRCP government allocated Rs 2,140 crore between 2019–24 but spent only Rs 1,475 crore, while falsely claiming an expenditure of Rs 7,700 crore. In 2023–24, though Rs 500 crore was shown in the budget for crop support, not even a single rupee was utilised.

Atchannaidu pointed out that the coalition government has significantly improved procurement and payment systems. All pending Rs 1,674 crore from the 2023–24 rabi season — left unpaid by the previous government — were cleared immediately. For the 2024–25 crop year, Rs 13,858 crore was disbursed, with 95 per cent of payments completed within 48 hours during Kharif.

He also said the government released Rs 310 crore as input subsidy to two lakh farmers affected by crop loss and cleared compensation of Rs 5.67 crore pending for 81 farmer suicide families from the YSRCP regime. The coalition has submitted bills to compensate 150 more families.

Accusing Jagan of deceiving farmers with false promises of free crop insurance while failing to pay Rs 1,990 crore in premiums, Atchannaidu challenged him to an open debate on what each government delivered. He said people no longer trust Jagan’s ‘false propaganda,’ and the coalition government’s work stands as proof of its commitment to farmers.