Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) held rallies across the state on Monday against the BJP-led government's anti-farmer policies.
The state-wide protests were led by TRS party leaders demanding the Centre to procure the whole paddy crop from the state.
The party cadres organised rallies, dharnas and have burnt effigies in order to abide by Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao's call.
The protesters raised slogans against the central government. The effigies of top leaders were set ablaze by the TRS cadres.
Minister Harish Rao took part in the protests in Gajwel. Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar and others took part in the agitation in the Khammam district. In Sattupalli, MLA Sandra Venkata Virayya and other party functionaries protested carrying a grain bag on their heads.
A Indrakaran Reddy, the state forest minister, led a huge rally in Nirmal town. A large number of party members attended the protests and raised anti-government slogans.
TRS is protesting for the third time over paddy procurement. Party leaders and cadres staged sit-in protests in almost all the Assembly constituencies last month. Later, the chief minister staged a three-hour sit-in in Hyderabad's Dharna Chowk, attended by state ministers, members of parliament, and other leaders.
Minister Harish Rao claimed that the state BJP leaders were misleading farmers by encouraging them to grow paddy while their national leadership opposed it. He demanded a clear response from Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy and BJP State President Bandi Sanjay on whether the Centre will procure the paddy from the state. "The BJP leaders in the state are deceiving the farmers for political benefit," he added.
(With inputs from ABP Desam — It is a Telugu platform of ABP News. For more news, commentary and latest happenings from two Telugu states, follow https://telugu.abplive.com//amp)