*Tobacco farmers betrayed*

Tadepalli, July 29: YSRCP MLC Thumati Madhava Rao said the Chandrababu Naidu-led coalition government has pushed tobacco farmers into a deep crisis through its continued indifference, forcing them to take to the streets in protest across the State. Referring to the recent agitation at the Tanguturu tobacco auction platform, he said it was unfortunate that farmers had to block the national highway despite the Chief Minister holding two review meetings on the issue without delivering any meaningful relief. He stated that while Karnataka protected farmers by preventing company syndicates from manipulating prices, the Andhra Pradesh government has allowed the same syndicates to exploit tobacco growers. He questioned why the very same companies were paying substantially higher prices to tobacco and mango farmers in Karnataka while Andhra Pradesh farmers were being forced to sell at much lower rates.

Madhava Rao said he personally visited the Kandukur tobacco auction centre two weeks ago and interacted with buyers and company representatives. He pointed out that after the Karnataka auction season ended, companies paid up to Rs 36,000 per quintal there but purchased tobacco in Andhra Pradesh for only around Rs 16,000 per quintal, exposing a clear disparity. He said there was no shortage of demand or export opportunities, as companies could store tobacco for years, but they had formed a syndicate to suppress prices. He stated that during the COVID period, when a similar crisis arose, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government directly procured tobacco, protected farmers and later resold the stock, earning nearly Rs 250 crore for the government.

On Bhogapuram International Airport, Madhava Rao said the coalition government was claiming credit for a project substantially executed during the YS Jagan government. He said the previous government resolved land acquisition issues, brought in GMR, laid the foundation stone and completed nearly 70 percent of the works. Projects initiated and largely completed by the YSRCP government are now being inaugurated with extravagant publicity, he said, describing the coalition government’s campaign around Bhogapuram Airport as nothing more than credit theft.