Terming Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao a ‘political opportunist’, TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy asked how do people believe his announcement of ₹3 lakh ex gratia to farmers who lost their lives during the farmers’ agitation when he ignored the deaths of Telangana farmers over the last seven years.
In a statement here, Mr. Reddy said that 7,500 farmers died in Telangana as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report while unofficially the figure stands at 40,000. “KCR never even acknowledged the deaths, leave alone compensating them,” he said.
Similarly, Telangana martyrs were not identified properly even after seven years and ex gratia was not given to the families despite him enjoying power due to their sacrifices. He said that the CM also announced ₹10,000 to each family during the floods of Hyderabad before the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections but ignored it after the polls.
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“Now, when KCR announces ₹3 lakh for farmers of North India just to score some political points, he wants us to believe his sincerity,” Mr. Reddy said. “At least now the CM should fulfil his promises made to Telangana farmers on loan waiver and compensate them for the burden put on them by banks in the form of interest on agriculture loans,” he added.