Farmers from K'taka campaign against Congress in T'gana

Hyderabad, Oct 25 (IANS) A group of farmers from Karnataka took out a rally in Telangana's Kodangal Assembly constituency on Wednesday, "cautioning" people against voting for the Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.  

The Congress, however, called it a "paid" protest organised by the ruling BRS. Highlighting the power shortage faced by them in Karnataka, about 200 farmers participated in the rally. 

They warned the people that voting for the Congress would spell doom for the agriculture sector. 

Kodangal is the constituency from where Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy is contesting in November 30 elections. 

The farmers from border areas of the neighbouring state entered erstwhile Mahabubnagar district to draw people's attention to the problems faced by them in Karnataka, where the Congress came to power recently. 

The farmers from Gulbarga district of Karnataka staged a protest on Tuesday at Jogulamba Gadwal. 

They reached Kodangal on Wednesday, and held placards besides raising slogans against the Congress-led government in Karnataka. 

Alleging that the Congress betrayed them after promising sufficient power supply, they told the local residents not to get cheated by voting for the Congress. 

They said before the elections, Congress promised them 10 hours of quality power every day but power was hardly being supplied for a couple of hours now. 

The rally, however, led to mild tension as local Congress leaders objected to farmers staging a protest. 

They asked the farmers to return to their villages. This led to an argument between the two sides.

The police intervened to prevent any untoward incident. The farmers later returned to their villages. 

For the last few days, Karnataka has been witnessing protests by farmers against insufficient power supply to the agriculture sector. 

Scanty rainfall and an increase in power consumption led to power shortage, affecting the farmers. 

Meanwhile, the Telangana unit of Congress

alleged that ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) brought some people from Karnataka by paying them bribes to damage the party's prospects. 

State unit Congress spokesperson Sama Ram Mohan Reddy said that unable to convince the farmers in Telangana with its lies, the BRS brought some hired persons from Karnataka to campaign against the grand old party. 

He said "no matter how many conspiracies the family of KCR hatch, the Congress will come to power in Telangana".

He also questioned the BRS working president and state minister K.T. Rama Rao on allowing people from other states to stage a protest in Hyderabad. He pointed out that when some TDP supporters wanted to protest in Hyderabad against the arrest of former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh, he had refused permission saying this would disturb peace. 

"Will peace flourish if a paid batch from Karnataka posing as farmers stage protests in Telangana," he asked. 

The protest by Karnataka farmers in Kodangal assumed significance as Revanth Reddy had made the controversial remark that farmers in Telangana do not need 24-hour power and that three hour supply will be sufficient. 

This had triggered strong protest by the BRS. During the election campaign BRS leaders have been highlighting the power problem faced by farmers in Karnataka and cautioning people that if they bring Congress to power, Telangana will face a similar situation. 

The ruling party is highlighting its achievement in the power sector while seeking another mandate. It claimed that Telangana is the only state in the country supplying free power 24X7 to farmers. 

--IANS

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