Nizamabad: To register their protest, farmers of Nizamabad district have decided to file numerous nominations for the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency. Farmers approached election officials in Nizamabad on Monday, the first day of filing nominations.
Farmers are demanding a remunerative minimum support price for turmeric and red jowar for the last few weeks, but the state government has not responded, It is believed that village development committees will play a key role in filing enmasse nominations for the Nizamabad seat from where TRS MP Kalvakunta Kavitha is expected to file her nomination. Nizamabad returning officer and collector M. Rammohan Rao said no nominations were filed on the first day.
He said that papers would be received till March 25.
Meanwhile, 43 farmers collected their nomination papers on Monday from the facilitation centre. To file a nomination, Rs 25,000 should be deposited and the support of 10 voters is required.
Village development committees are planning to collect money from villagers and file a nomination from a village each in Armoor, Balkonda, Nizamabad Rural, Korutla and Jagtial Assembly constituencies. It is expected that more than 500 farmers are showing interest in filing nomination papers for the seat to register their protest.
Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Eleti Bhaskar, a farmer from Morthad mandal, said their grievances were not addressed either by the state or the central governments. “We are getting Rs 5,000 per quintal of turmeric and Rs 1700 for red jowar,” he said. The prices are not supportive for farmers, he said. “We decided to file nominations in large numbers, to draw the attention of the government,” he said.
