Srinivas and Rameshwar are members of the Kamareddy Farmers’ Joint Action Committee (JAC), which is angry over a development master plan of the Kamareddy municipality which envisaged a project under which many farmers would have lost their land.
The draft plan has already been scrapped by the municipality as well as the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department. However, at least a hundred farmers who are with the JAC have said they are ready to contest against the CM to convey their opposition to any future development plans which may result in such loss of land belonging to farmers.
In January, as part of the draft master plan of the Kamareddy municipality, an industrial zone was proposed, taking over at least 1,210 acres of agricultural land spread over seven villages.
“KCR says ‘Abki baar kisan sarkar’, but his government is making plans which dispose farmers of their agricultural land,” Srinivas says, alleging that one farmer set to lose his land had committed sucide in January. “Converting fertile land into an industrial zone is ridiculous. We will contest against KCR to convey our anger.”
Vowing to stop any acquisition “tooth and nail”, another farmer says: “Some of these agricultural lands have been with our families for generations.”
The JAC is demanding that the CM announce at a public meeting at Kamareddy that the plan has been shelved and give an assurance that there will be no new master plan. If KCR gives the assurance, they have said, they will support the BRS.
The JAC claims to be pooling in money to pay for the preparation and filing of nomination by the farmers as Independents, if the government doesn’t comply.
Sitting BRS MLA Gampa Govardhan accused the Congress of inciting the farmers. “The master plan has been withdrawn and cancelled. There is no new proposal and no one’s land is being taken away. The Congress is scared because till now it thought it was going to defeat the BRS, but with KCR in the fray, they have developed cold feet… The CM will assure the farmers that they have nothing to worry,’’ he said.
KCR is contesting from Kamareddy in addition to Gajwel, from where he is the sitting MLA.
For the BRS, the threat by the farmers invokes unpleasant memories. In the May 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BRS leader and KCR’s daughter K Kavitha, seeking re-election from the Nizamabad seat, had faced the might of turmeric farmers. They were angry over her failure to meet a promise in 2014 to convince the Centre to set up a Turmeric Board, to ensure good prices for turmeric.
When the turmeric prices crashed, as many as 175 farmers filed nomination as Independents from Nizamabad in May 2019. The long list of 186 names could not be accommodated on EVM and the Election Commission used ballot paper in the polls.
The Independent farmer nominees collectively polled over 60,000 votes. The BJP’s D Arvind emerged the winner, defeating Kavitha by 70,000-plus votes.
Sreenivas Janyala… read more