Hyderabad: Ever since the Central government got Parliament to approve controversial farm laws, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti's stance on the issue remained inconsistent.
The party had supported the Bharat Bandh called by farmer unions against the farm laws in December 2020 — just before the GHMC elections in Hyderabad. TRS chief and Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao called upon his party's rank and file to actively take part in Bharat Bandh to make it a success in Telangana.
Demanding that the Centre abolish the controversial farm laws, TRS MLAs, MLCs, MPs and other party leaders hit the streets in the state and blocked the roads leading to heavy traffic jams. The ruling party in the state, however, had gone silent over farm laws after Chandrashekar Rao met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi after GHMC polls.
During the Budget session of the Assembly in March 2021, the Chief Minister rejected the demand of Congress MLAs for an Assembly resolution against the farm laws.
The Chief Minister argued that the Centre is supreme and states have no powers to pass resolutions against the Centre's laws. But when Congress MLAs questioned as to how did the Assembly pass a resolution against the Centre's Citizenship Amendment Act, the Chief Minister remained silent.
Following the defeat of the TRS in the Huzurabad bypoll, the Chief Minister again threatened to stage protests across the state and even in Delhi against the Centre's farm laws.
He also spoke of extending his support to farmers, agitating in northern states, against the farm laws.
The Chief Minister's flip-flop on the Centre's farm laws have left the party's leaders and cadre confused.
Experts see 'political compulsions' behind Chandrashekar Rao's flip flops on the issue of farm laws. Now that the BJP has emerged as a strong alternative to the TRS after its stupendous victory in the Huzurabad bypoll, the Chief Minister is trying to attack the BJP using the issue of farm laws.
