Nizamabad: Around 50 turmeric farmers of Telangana state returned home on Tuesday after 25 of them filed nomination papers for the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency. They had done this to highlight their long-pending issues like setting up a turmeric board in the state and remunerative price for produce.
By filing nominations in a constituency where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a contestant, the farmers wanted to draw the attention of the nation to their issues for which they have been fighting over the years.
Following the non-cooperation of locals and alleged threats by Intelligence Bureau officials, the farmers returned home. It may be noted that the farmers will reach Armoor on May 1.
Scrutiny of nomination papers is being conducted on Tuesday in Varanasi and final information may be declared on Wednesday at 10 am.
Speaking to this newspaper, Telangana State Turmeric Farmers Association president Kotapati Narasimha Naidu said that after the agitation by Telangana farmers, Varanasi district officials had provided nomination papers for filing.
Of 50 farmers, only 25 had filed nominations without proposers, he said. Each contesting candidate requires 10 proposers, but local BJP leaders and IB officials had threatened locals not to cooperate with TS farmers, he alleged.
In view of lack of proposers, Varanasi district election officials may reject the nominations of outsider contestants, he said.
He made it clear that they are not against anyone and their aim in filing nominations was fulfilled in Varanasi. “We are hopeful that the Centre will respond positively on the issue,” he said. “We neither support nor oppose anyone in Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency,” he added.
