This story is from April 25, 2019

1,000 proposers ready in Varanasi: Nizamabad farmers

1,000 proposers ready in Varanasi: Nizamabad farmers
HYDERABAD: The campaign by turmeric farmers from Telangana and Tamil Nadu to highlight their issues by contesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to have gained momentum. Farmers have claimed the backing of at least 1,000 people in Varanasi, who will act as proposers and seconders for the nomination papers to be filed by them for the high-profile Lok Sabha contest.

According to rules, each contestant should get the support and signature of 10 people from the constituency, from where he or she is contesting for the nomination to be accepted.
“We have arranged the support of 1,000 people to propose and second our nominations. We will land in Varanasi on April 26 and file the nomination papers on April 29,” PK Deivasigamani, president of National Turmeric Farmers Federation, told TOI over phone from Tamil Nadu.
The farmers from Nizamabad and Tamil Nadu are demanding a turmeric board on the lines of coffee, tea and spices boards. Farmers from Nizamabad are also seeking a higher minimum support price (MSP). Nearly 180 farmers are already in the fray for the Nizamabad Lok Sabha election, which went to polls in the first phase on April 11. Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and sitting MP K Kavitha is seeking re-election from the constituency.
In a separate press conference in Nizamabad, farmers who have come together as part of “Chalo Varanasi” campaign, said that about 50 farmers will file nominations from Varanasi. “We felt that in Nizamabad, the nominations were done to cause trouble to TRS candidate Kavitha, but BJP candidate D Aravind has promised that his party will set up the turmeric board within five minutes after returning to power,” Tirupati Reddy, one of the farmers who addressed the press conference in Nizamabad, said.

According to Deivasigamani, they have kept their campaign plans under wraps as they do not want any political pressure on them. “From Tamil Nadu, we are contesting the Varanasi election only to gain national attention, and not just for the turmeric board, but also to highlight the huge loan burden on us,” he said.
Interestingly, no farmer from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, where turmeric is grown in districts like Guntur, has come forward to take on PM Modi from Varanasi. Meanwhile, National Turmeric Farmers Federation general secretary, Raghunath Dada Patil, who hails from Maharashtra, said he was not aware of turmeric farmers from Telangana and Tamil Nadu contesting from Varanasi. “But farmers from Maharashtra are clear that they want a national turmeric board constituted.”
Karnataka Turmeric Farmers Association general secretary, Sanda Kumar, said they too support the demand for the board. They also supported the demand of Nizamabad farmers that the board be headquartered in Telangana, but want regional branches in their respective states.
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