Special budget for farm sector if voted to power: Laxman

Warangal: In order to ensure substantial allocation of funds for agriculture, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will introduce a special budget for farm sector if voted to power, BJP State unit president K Laxman said.

He stated that the party after coming to power would also waive crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh at a time. In addition to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) offered by the Centre, a bonus of Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 on agricultural produces like paddy, maize, cotton and pulses will be offered in the State.

“These measures are meant to benefit all the famers, tenant and tribal farmers, unlike the financial assistance of Rs 4,000 per acre offered by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government under Rythu Bandhu Scheme which is confined to land owners alone and benefitting the rich,” Laxman said while addressing a press meet here on Friday.

Adding to the series of pro-farmer measures the party proposed to introduce, he stated that the BJP government would also provide free bore wells to poor farmers and would pay the interest incurred on crop loans taken by farmers.

Laxman showering praises on the Centre for its announcement of MSP for different agriculture produce said it would benefit entire farming community. He ridiculed the statements by Farmer’s Coordination Committee State President G Sukender Reddy and Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao who niggled at the MSP offered by the Centre.

The TRS leaders were not able to digest the increasing popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom the farmers were treating as their brother. The decisions by the Centre would help the farmers get profitable price to agriculture produce.

Hitting strongly at the ruling party, Laxman said “The TRS is a sinking ship and the same is the case with the Congress.” The BJP leader sought to know whether any of the SC/ST/BC leaders in the TRS could become the party president and said TRS means only Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his family.

Ensuring social justice could only be possible in the BJP as it made a dalit the President of India, Laxman stated and added that the TRS was going to be another Janata Dal (S) (JDS) as it could not come to power on its own in Telangana.

The party state vice president M Dharma Rao stated that the party’s Praja Chaitanya Yatra received immense support from public and the TRS leaders have started worrying at the public response. The yatra’s first phase concluded at Tungaturthy on Friday.

BJP national general secretary Perala Sekhar Rao, Warangal Urban district president Rao Padma, MLA C Ramachandra Reddy and others were present.