Nizamabad MP Arvind Dharmapuri claimed that TRS’s opposition to farmers’ bills passed in Parliament “showcased its fear of losing farmers’ support totally”.
In an interaction with reporters on Tuesday, Mr. Arvind said that the bills were a death knell on opposition parties and TRS was opposing it “solely because of losing its base among farmers”.
Stating that the bills would change the fortunes of farmers, he said they would get money in advance for the crop from the sponsor and at the same time, sell their crop at a higher price at any place after cancelling the initial agreement with the crop sponsor.
The bill clearly states that sponsors cannot charge any interest if the farmer wishes to return the money. Moreover, the bill ensures that the responsibility lies on the sponsors to take the produce from the field. District Collectors will have the final say on the disputes, if any, between the sponsors and farmers.
Mr. Arvind rejected the TRS party’s accusation that farming would be corporatised. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who is a farmer himself, has tie-ups with corporates for selling his crop and farmers too, can have similar tie-ups, he argued.
The TRS is worried that it would lose market yard fee to the tune of ₹10,000 crore, he claimed. Rejecting the TRS charge that the bills were passed unilaterally, he asked if the TRS had taken the opinion of opposition parties while abolishing the VRO system.
On BJP corporators defecting to the ruling party, he said that Kavita could not win even after senior leaders like Suresh Reddy and Mandava Venkateshwara Rao joined the TRS and BJP would not lose much if some corporators leave the party.
