Hyderabad: The battle between the TRS and the BJP over procurement of paddy, reached Delhi on Tuesday, with leaders from both the parties meeting Union food minister Piyush Goyal separately.
The TS government delegation consisting of ministers and TRS MPs had been waiting in Delhi since Saturday to meet Goyal to seek clarity on the status of paddy procurement for the Kharif season.
The BJP delegation from the state reached Delhi on Monday and sought Goyal's appointment to discuss the issue. Goyal met the BJP delegation first at noon, and the TS delegation in the evening.
Goyal met the BJP delegation at Union home minister Amit Shah's chambers in Parliament. Shah was present along with Union tourism minister G. Kishan Reddy, BJP TS president Bandi Sanjay, MP D. Arvind, MLAs Etala Rajendar, and M. Raghunandan Rao, party's national vice-president D.K. Aruna and party leader Vijayashanthi among others.
State BJP leaders briefed Amit Shah and Goyal about the TRS government misleading farmers on paddy procurement and trying to pin the blame on the Centre.
They said TRS elected representatives had held 'funeral processions' with effigies of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi across the state on Monday. The police did not initiate any action against the TRS leaders while they were burning the PM's effigies, the BJP leaders told Amit Shah and Goyal.
BJP sources said Amit Shah and Goyal expressed severe anger at the TRS for holding 'funeral processions' and told the BJP leaders that this should not be tolerated.
Later, TS ministers S. Niranjan Reddy, V. Prashanth Reddy, G. Jagadish Reddy, Errabelli Dayakar Rao and TRS MPs met Goyal at his chambers in Parliament.
Goyal reportedly expressed anger at the TRS leaders for repeatedly coming to Delhi on the paddy issue even after he had stated the Centre's stance on more than one occasion in both Houses of Parliament during the ongoing winter session.
The TS delegation demanded a written assurance from the Centre on enhancing the paddy procurement target for the state for the ongoing Kharif season. The state had met the target of 60 lakh tonnes set by the Centre, and another 60 lakh tonnes was awaiting procurement.
The TS delegation asked Goyal to clarify whether the Centre would enhance the target, and give a written assurance as the state could not trust oral assurances. They asked whether the TS government should continue Kharif procurement or close the purchase centres.
However, Goyal remained non-committal and said he would clarify in two to three days after discussing the issue with the Food Corporation of India.
Speaking to the media later, Niranjan Reddy said the delegation would wait for three more days in Delhi for Goyal’s response
