Telangana CM Chandrasekhar Rao directs TRS MPs to vote against Farm Bill in Rajya Sabha

Saying that the Bill will benefit corporate businessmen, Rao wants TRS Parliamentary Party leader K Keshava Rao to oppose it tooth and nail.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao

HYDERABAD:  TRS MPs will vote against the Farm Bill, 2020 in Rajya Sabha, when it is introduced in the Upper House on Sunday. The Bill will be unjust to farmers, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Saturday and directed the MPs to vote against it.

The pink party has six members in Rajya Sabha. Saying that the Bill will benefit corporate businessmen, Rao wants TRS Parliamentary Party leader K Keshava Rao to oppose it tooth and nail.

Th. He wondered how farmers would send their produce to other places as the transportation cost is ough it states that farmers can sell their produce anywhere, the provision will benefit traders only, the Chief Minister saidlikely to pinch their pockets. 

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) supremo further said that the Bill will help the "corporate eagles" to widen their presence across the country and open the doors to private traders. "The Farm Bill is a sugar-coated pill and we have to oppose it," Rao told the MPs. 

The Centre had recently reduced the import duty on maize from 50 per cent to 15 per cent and decided to import huge quantities. "It has already imported 75 lakh tonnes of maize. What will happen to our farmers?" he asked the Central government. 

Since the Farm Bill will incur major losses to the agriculture sector and is against the interests of farmers, it should be opposed in Rajya Sabha, the Chief Minister instructed the TRS MPs.Does Centre want to turn ryots into beggars, ask MPs.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Delhi on Saturday, Keshava Rao and Lok Sabha floor leader Nama Nageswara Rao wondered why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was being so vindictive and targeting farmers."Does the Central government want to turn farmers into beggars or daily labourers?" they asked. 

They said three farm-related Bills were adopted in Lok Sabha as the BJP had full strength in the House. "But, we will oppose the Bills in Rajya Sabha. We have also protested against these in Lok Sabha," Nama said. 

Even Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned as Union Minister in protest of the Bills, the MPs pointed out. Keshava Rao said if the Bills are adopted, the farmers will not get the minimum support price (MSP) for their produce. “We will vote against the Bill,” he said.

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