Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dharmana Krishna Das slammed TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu for shedding crocodile tears for farmers through 'Rytu Kosam TDP' campaign and accused Mr. Naidu of neglecting and cheating farmers during his 14-year tenure.
The minister listed out the promises made by Mr. Naidu before the 2014 elections and said the people had rejected the TDP because the previous government had not fulfilled its promises. He said the state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy on the other hand has implemented many pro-farmer programmes for their welfare.
He flayed Mr. Naidu for ignoring waiving farm loans, providing nine-hour electricity for agriculture, setting up a price stabilization fund of Rs. 5,000 crore and implementation of Swaminathan Committee recommendations. He said Mr. Naidu had also ignored Veligonda, Galeru- Nagiri, Handri Neeva and Polavaram projects.
Mr. Das said Jagan has taken up agriculture as a priority subject and fulfilled all the promises made to farmers despite the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the state government has spent Rs. 17,030 crore for YSR Rytu Bharosa scheme and modernized 8,358 electric substations at a cost of Rs. 1,700 crore to provide nine-hour power to farmers. He added that the state government has cleared pending arrears of Rs. 20,000 crore of the previous TDP government.
He said Jagan has implemented crop insurance scheme, set up price stabilization fund of Rs. 3,000 crore and Natural Disaster Management Fund of Rs. 2,000 crore for the welfare of the farmers. He warned TDP leaders to stop spreading false information about farmers' welfare and asserted that the state government has been supporting farmers in every possible way.