Rahul\'s Tweet on paddy sparks Congress, TRS battle

Hyderabad: The TRS and the Congress were engaged in a war of words on social media on Tuesday over the issue of paddy procurement in Telangana. It all started with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Twitter taking a dig at both the TRS government in Telangana and the BJP at the Centre, accusing them of harassing farmers by not procuring paddy from this state.

Finance minister Harish Rao and MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha gave a strong counter to Rahul Gandhi, asking him not to display his 'false love' for the people of Telangana and instead join the agitating TRS MPs in Parliament who are demanding 'one nation-one procurement policy'.  “If Rahul is really concerned about the welfare of farmers in Telangana, he must make his stand clear on 'one nation-one procurement' policy,” they said.

In his tweets posted in Telugu, Rahul Gandhi said it was a shame that the BJP and the TRS governments were not shouldering their moral responsibility vis-a-vis procuring paddy from farmers in Telangana and instead indulging in politicising the paddy procurement issue. "Stop harassing paddy farmers with anti-farmer policies and buy every grain harvested," weeted the Congress MP.

Rahul Gandhi assured the Telangana farmers that the Congress “will continue to fight on their behalf until every grain produced in Telangana is procured.” MLC Kavitha was quick to counter Rahul's criticism on Twitter. She said instead of extending symbolic solidarity to farmers on Twitter for political gain, Rahul Gandhi as an MP should join the TRS MPs in their protests in Parliament.

"The TRS MPs are staging protests in the Well of the Parliament every day against the Centre’s biased paddy procurement policies in Punjab and Haryana while neglecting other states. If you are sincere in your intentions, you must join them in the protests and the demand for 'one nation, one procurement’ policy," she tweeted.

Harish Rao also slammed Rahul Gandhi and advised him to stop displaying his false love for people of Telangana. He wanted Rahul Gandhi to join the TRS MPs in their fight for 'one nation, one procurement’ policy in the Parliament, if he was a real well-wisher of the people of Telangana.

"Try to expose the Centre which is harassing the farmers. First, make your party’s stand clear on ‘one nation, one procurement’ policy. Stop politicising the issue involving farmers and avoid ruining your reputation any further in Telangana," Rao tweeted.

AICC incharge for Telangana affairs and MP Manickam Tagore joined the Twitter war. He tweeted, "Farmers want their paddy to be procured for a decent price. If you play around, then what turmeric farmers did to TRS will happen to it again in 2023. Tell KCR not to play with farmers of Telangana. Congress will stand with them till Modiji & KCR procure paddy."

Kavitha was quick to counter Tagore. She tweeted,  "Dear @manickamtagore ji, this arrogance reduced your party into double digits in parliament. Win or lose, I did not run away from my constituency like your ex CP RahulGandhi did. Also, I did not contest 2 seats like your ex-CP."