Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao arrived in Punjab on Sunday where he paid tributes to the soldiers martyred during the struggle in the Galwan Valley and farmers killed during the protest last year.
KCR, who is on a national tour to various places in a bid to meet the leaders of the regional parties attempting to seek support for an alternative front to the BJP and Congress, visited Punjab after New Delhi. He was accompanied by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
KCR not only met the families of those who lost their lives in the Galwan Valley
and the farmers’ movement, but also provided them with financial assistance. As per officials, he will give a check of Rs 3 lakh to each bereaved family.
During his visit, the Telangana CM appealed to the farmer leaders to continue their agitation against the Central government till they get a constitutional guarantee on the support price of the crops. “Farmers can change governments,” he said. Calling for a united nation-wide agitation, he said he would join forces with other opposition parties like the Aam Aadmi Party and support the farmers.
KCR said: “Problems happen everywhere but the kind of problems we face are not there anywhere else. The biggest question is why farmers have to face such problems. Farmers helped the country in difficult situations. At one time, only farmers had come forward to help the country. When the whole country was facing the problem of food grains, the farmers of Punjab had fed the whole country by bringing Green Revolution and today the demands of the farmers are not being fulfilled.”
Giving the example of Telangana, KCR said that when Telangana state was formed, he corrected the power situation so that the farmers’ work did not stop and today 24 hours’ free power was being given in Telangana so that farmers could do irrigation and other works. Targeting the Centre, he said that the state governments are working, but the Centre puts various types of pressure on them.
“The Centre asked our government to impose electricity bills on farmers who are being given free electricity in the state. We would die but not install meters.”
Recalling Delhi CM Kejriwal’s support to the farmers who sat on the national capital’s borders protesting against the three farm laws (which are now withdrawn), KCR said that the AAP supremo is “lucky” to have got a chance to serve them (farmers). With agency inputs