Farmers are not beggars; frame a new agri policy: Chandrashekar Rao urges PM Modi

Hyderabad, Apr 11: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to frame a new agriculture policy, saying his state will also contribute to that.

"Is growing paddy Telangana farmers' fault?...I warn PM Modi that you can't mess with farmers. Indian history is a testament that wherever farmers cried, govt loses power.Nobody is permanent...When in power, don't treat farmers unfairly: Telangana CM KCR at dharna, Delhi.

KCR is holding a day-long dharna against the Centre on Monday in the national capital, demanding procurement of 15 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice from the state. This will be the TRS' first protest rally in Delhi after coming to power in Telangana in 2014.

Alleging that the BJP-led NDA government discriminated against Telangana, the TRS has taken up a series of protests, including road blockades, for nearly a week in Telangana. The protests by TRS came amid a war of words between the TRS and the BJP over the paddy procurement.

The Telangana government had given in writing that it will not supply parboiled rice but raw rice to the Food Corporation of India, Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal had said recently. Telangana state BJP president Kumar on Saturday alleged that the TRS government's "politicking on paddy procurement" smacks of a large-scale conspiracy to help middlemen make crores of rupees and diverting the anger of farmers towards the Centre.