Jagan accuses TDP-led govt of abandoning farmers, aiding black marketeers

Pulivendula (Andhra Pradesh), Sep 2 (PTI) YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday accused the TDP-led coalition government of “abandoning farmers and encouraging black-market exploitation.” Interacting with onion and citrus farmers at Duggannagaripalli village in Vemula mandal of Kadapa district, Reddy heard complaints about the absence of minimum support prices, which he said was pushing cultivators into “unbearable debts and despair.” “Naidu completely abandoned farmers after coming to power,” Reddy alleged in a press release.

He alleged that while farmers had received support under the previous YSRCP regime, they were "being ignored by the NDA coalition government." Reddy demanded immediate intervention by the state to rescue agricultural families, pointing out that onion, banana, black gram, and sunn hemp growers were hit by “price collapse.” He also flagged a "severe shortage of urea, forcing farmers to buy from the black market at inflated rates." He questioned why urea quotas were not being distributed through Rythu Bharosa Kendras and Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, which, he claimed, ensured “transparency and accountability” between 2019 and 2024.

Reddy further alleged that retail outlets owned by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu were selling onions at Rs 35 per kg while procuring them from farmers at just Rs 6 per kg.

Recalling past rates, he said sunn hemp had fetched up to Rs 1 lakh per quintal and onions up to Rs 12,000 per quintal during the YSRCP government, whereas farmers "now struggled to sell good-grade onions at Rs 600 per quintal and lower grades at Rs 300." The opposition leader also accused the NDA government of betraying farmers by discontinuing the 'Annadata Sukhibhava' scheme, scrapping free crop insurance, and diverting fertilisers to the black market "while prioritising commissions over cultivators’ survival." The scheme was aimed at providing direct financial relief to farmers, one of the key promises made ahead of the 2024 elections.

There was no immediate reaction from the TDP. PTI MS SSK