YS Sharmila to stage 72-hr protest to show solidarity with T'gana farmers

Hyderabad, Nov 10:  YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) President Y.S. Sharmila on Wednesday said she will sit on a 72-hour protest in Hyderabad from Friday to show solidarity with the state's farmers who are worried over the delay in procurement of paddy by the government.

Sharmila, who is sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, claimed that the state government has failed the farmers. She claimed that heaps of paddy were lying across the state as farmers were waiting for several days at the procurement centres.

Telling reporters that farmers were saying that if their paddy was not procured, they will no option but to commit suicide, she slammed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government for not coming to the rescue of farmers. She said it was shocking that instead of finding a solution to the problem, the government was asking farmers not to grow paddy.

Referring to the call given by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to TRS cadres to stage a protest in all Assembly constituencies on November 12 against the Centre for refusing to lift paddy from the state, Sharmila said this reflects the inefficiency of the government.

The YSRTP leader said KCR, who had promised to procure every grain, had now gone back on his word.

She dismissed the claim by KCR that his government had done a lot for welfare of farmers and asked if this was true, why had hundreds of farmers committed suicide during the last seven years.

Sharmila stopped her ongoing Praja Prasthanam Padyatra temporarily from Wednesday in view of the election code of conduct for elections to the Legislative Council.

Tuesday was the 21st day of YSRTP leader's padyatra. She is undertaking the walkathon to expose the failures of the state government on various fronts and to interact with people about their problems.