TRS to oppose Farm Bills:Telangana CM KCR

The Telangana Rashtra Samith(TRS) Chief and Telangana CM  K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) has said that his party will oppose the farm bills. KCR said these farm bills will do "a lot of injustice" to the farmers. He has instructed TRS MPs to oppose the Bills "tooth and nail" in Parliament. "The Bills will adversely impact farmers and would benefit corporates," he said, adding that there is a need to oppose the farm Bills when they are introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

"For the public consumption, it was stated in the Bills that farmers could sell their produce anywhere in the country. But in reality, the Bills would enable the traders to go anywhere in the country to buy the produce. They are saying farmers can sell their produce anywhere in the country with these new Bills. But is it possible for farmers to take their small produce to distant areas, bearing the heavy transport charges and sell it at good price? These Bills are nothing but a sugar-coated pill. This should be opposed at all costs," the Telangana CM said. He also alleged that the Bills are "in favour" of the corporate lobby and will allow them to spread themselves across the country, paving way for private traders.

While the Modi government was easily able to get the two farm Bills passed in the Lok Sabha, it is likely to face hurdles in the Rajya Sabha where it does not enjoy a majority.The Congress has been working on ways to unite the opposition parties, especially the non-UPA non-NDA parties like TRS, YSR Congress, BJD, TMC, Samajwadi Party and others.However, farmers are apprehensive and fear that once these bills are passed by Parliament, they would pave the way for dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system and leave the farming community at the "mercy" of big corporates.