Telangana Minister Ponnam Prabhakar Slams BJP Over Fuel Hike, Paddy Procurement

Telangana Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar intensified the Congress government’s attack on the BJP-led Centre, accusing it of burdening farmers through rising fuel prices while simultaneously conducting political campaigns in the name of farmer welfare.

In a video statement, the minister criticised the BJP’s “Rythu Gosa – BJP Bharosa” bus yatras, calling them a political exercise aimed at diverting attention from the real issues faced by farmers. He said the Centre should first reduce petrol and diesel prices if it genuinely cared about the farming community.

Prabhakar alleged that repeated fuel price hikes had sharply increased cultivation costs, affecting tractor usage, irrigation motor pumps, harvesting and transportation expenses. He said farmers across Telangana were already struggling with rising input costs and labour shortages, and the increase in diesel prices had worsened their financial burden.

The minister also accused the Centre of neglecting Telangana farmers in paddy procurement. According to him, the Union government approved procurement of only 53.73 lakh metric tonnes of paddy despite repeated requests from the state to procure the entire produce. He further alleged that delays in approvals related to boiled rice sanctions and levy rice procurement were creating hardships for farmers.

Highlighting the state government’s efforts, Prabhakar said Telangana had established 8,575 procurement centres and procured nearly 51 lakh metric tonnes of paddy so far. He stated that around ₹8,749 crore had been directly transferred into farmers’ bank accounts as Minimum Support Price (MSP) payments. The state had also arranged nearly 21 crore gunny bags for procurement operations.

The minister criticised the BJP for failing to fulfil promises such as doubling farmers’ incomes and also targeted the Centre over the marginal ₹10 per quintal MSP hike for maize . He urged farmers to question BJP leaders on fuel prices and demand that the Centre procure every grain produced in Telangana.