BRS slams Congress govt. over all-party meeting; demands ₹50,000 relief for farmers

Senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders launched a scathing attack on the Congress government following an all-party meeting held at the Secretariat, terming the session a mere eye-wash.

BRS representatives expressed strong displeasure over Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s absence from the high-level meeting, which was presided by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Wednesday.

Speaking at the media point, former Minister Niranjan Reddy, MLC L. Ramana and former MP B. Vinod Kumar lashed out at the government’s handling of the agricultural crisis. They highlighted that despite a 25% rainfall deficit and the government’s own admission of 24.3 lakh acres of crop damage, the administration completely lacks clarity on a concrete relief plan or the utilisation of the State’s disaster fund.

The leaders strongly questioned why a ‘crop holiday’ was being enforced locally for the Yasangi season when neighboring States like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had skipped such measures. Accusing the government of failing to effectively manage water resources, they pointed out that approximately 750 TMC of Godavari water and nearly 200 TMC of Krishna water were allowed to flow into neighboring Andhra Pradesh.

The BRS demanded an immediate compensation of ₹50,000 per acre for affected farmers, split equally between the Centre and the State. Warning of a grim situation with no rainfall expected for the next eight months, they urged the Chief Minister to reassure anxious farmers rather than panic them. Declaring that the government has only just woken up from a deep slumber, the BRS leaders asserted that the current crisis is not a natural calamity but a ‘drought brought upon by the Congress’.