Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders on Monday protested the proposed payment of nominal compensation as part of weather-based crop insurance, alleging that it would deal a further blow to farmers who were already in distress due to the absence of an enumeration exercise of crop loss in mandals and unpaid input subsidy since 2018.
There was high drama in both Anantapur and Puttaparthi where the TDP leaders gathered in large numbers to submit a memorandum to the respective Collectors as part of their ‘Chalo Collectorate’ programme. Former Minister and Polit Bureau member Kalava Srinivasulu was stopped at several places on his way to the Collectorate in Anantapur, while former Ministers Paritala Sunitha and Palle Raghunatha Reddy got into arguments with police after being held up, with Mr. Raghunatha Reddy eventually climbing over barricades to make his way to the Collector’s office.
Tension prevailed in Anantapur where the police, led by DSP A. Srinivasulu, tried their best to stop the TDP leaders from proceeding towards the Collectorate. In the end, a handful of the party members were allowed to meet the Collector, that too under police escort. Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Payyavula Keshav, who led several protesters from Uravakonda to Anantapur, was stopped at five places along his journey, he said.
