Minister Kakani denounces opposition leaders allegations on drought mandals

Tirupati: Agriculture minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy has criticised opposition leaders, particularly Telugu Desam politburo member Somireddy Chandramohan, for their “malicious propaganda” on the declaration of drought-hit mandals.

Speaking to the media in Nellore on Friday, Govardhan Reddy asserted that many opposition leaders lacked the capacity to comprehend the norms for declaring drought zones based on disaster management reports.

“Based on these reports, 447 mandals in the state had received minimal rainfall, meeting the primary indicator in Step-1. In the second step, 275 mandals were filtered based on four parameters -- crop sown, vegetation damage, moisture content, and groundwater level. Subsequently, in the third step, 103 drought mandals were identified after field-level observation of crop damage as per the NDRF norms.”

Govardhan Reddy also took a jibe at Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and BJP state chief Daggubati Purandeswari, accusing them of exploiting farmers for political gains while lacking knowledge about agricultural issues.

He criticized Purandeswari for addressing irrigation water issues in Nellore district without “proper knowledge” of the quantum of water release to crop canals.

Taking a dig at TD leader Nara Lokesh, the minister questioned his absence in the state, stating that his earlier prediction about “Lokesh's voice being muted” has come true. Finding fault with Lokesh's comments on agriculture matters, Reddy emphasized that posting “uninformed” tweets about agriculture matters was not a good practice.