Congress to launch 24-hour Rythu Deeksha today

​Hanamkonda: Congress party would not remain as a spectator towards the chilli farmers’ crisis and would take up agitations in support of the farming community, asserted former chief whip G Venkata Ramana Reddy.

The Congress leader told presspersons in Hanamkonda on Tuesday, that he and other leaders would be undertaking a 24-hour ‘Rythu Deeksha’, demanding profitable price to chilli and other agricultural produce. He said the ‘Deeksha’ would be staged at Ekasila Park on Wednesday (May 3) at 9 am.

Police permission was sought to stage the protest and the Deeksha would be staged even if the permission was not granted.

“We have no other recourse but to resort to Gandhian agitations to put pressure on the State government to quit its indifferent attitude towards chilli farmers,” Ramana Reddy noted. He along with other Congress leaders was arrested in the morning hours on the day when tried to visit Enumamula market to interact with farmers.

The arrested leaders were released in the afternoon. Referring to the arrests, he sought to know why police in large numbers were deployed at Enumamula market. “Is it a defence facility? Why the leaders were prevented from meeting farmers?” he questioned.

He said farmers inside the market have made frantic calls to Congress leaders complaining about poor price being offered to them. Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 were offered per quintal chilli. Even farmers were also booked in false cases for questioning about such a lower price, he pointed out.

Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh was planning to offer Rs 1,500 as bonus to per quintal chilli and a special cabinet meeting was convened to approve it. The Telangana government should also do the same and offer bonus to farmers, he sought.

The Chief Minister, K Chandrashekar Rao, and the ruling party leaders should act responsibly and try to address the farmers’ issues instead of politicising the issue.