Chandrababu Naidu only flying high, blind to farmers' woes, says Jagan Mohan Reddy

Vijayawada: YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday lashed out at Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, accusing him of using the Gannavaram airport to hop on to special flights, but never bothering about the problems being faced by the farmers living in the vicinity of the airport. He said that commented that during Mr Naidu's rule, life of farmers had become appalling.

Mr Reddy during his Krishna district tour, visited Gannavaram constituency and examined the crops that had dried up without water. He also interacted with farmers of Bommuluru. Mr Reddy accused the CM of promising to stay in Vijayawada, but never looking into the problems being faced by the farmers. He said that the state government had acquired farmers’ lands forcibly instead of providing water for agriculture to farmers.

The YSRC chief alleged that in a constituency for 18,000 acres, only 1,000 acres were being used for cultivation. “We have to think about the farmers’ conditions. We have to take stock of the problems they are facing, and come to their rescue. It is unfortunate to see lands in the worst position in the home town of the water resources minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao,” he told reporters here.

Mr Reddy expressed anguish that lands that yield 3 to 4 crops in the capital region are drying due to scarcity of water. Farmers brought to his notice that MSP of black gram had dropped to Rs 6,000 from Rs 12,000, and said that they were in no position to save their crops. Mr Reddy said that no survey will be conducted on this and no monitoring officials will ever visit these places.