Jagan Accuses Naidu of Betraying Rayalaseema Farmers Over Horticulture Investment Claim

Vijayawada:YSRC president and former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday accused Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of misleading farmers with his claim of a Rs 1 lakh crore investment to develop horticulture in Rayalaseema, alleging that the proposal lacked budgetary backing.

In a post on X, Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged that the government had not allocated funds or spent money on the proposed investment. He also criticised the government’s handling of issues affecting farmers growing horticultural and other crops.

He said, ‘Your government’s record over the past two and a half years has repeatedly shown that your concern for farmers is limited to words and publicity. When farmers growing horticulture and other crops receive no fair prices and take to the streets in protest, have you ever paid attention? Is it not true that you weakened the Price Stabilisation Fund established by our government and scrapped free crop insurance, pushing farmers deeper into distress?”

Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged that the NDA government had scrapped the zero-interest loan scheme and undermined timely input subsidies, while projecting publicity initiatives as achievements. He claimed that drought conditions had affected Rayalaseema and that horticultural crops across thousands of acres were drying up.

He questioned Naidu’s projection of himself as a ‘Water Man’, alleging that the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme remained stalled and that the government had failed to revive it.

Jagan Mohan Reddy further claimed that seven to eight lakh borewells had dried up in Rayalaseema and that farmers were spending Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 on each water tanker to save their trees.

He alleged that Rayalaseema was becoming a hotspot for farmer suicides and urged the Chief Minister to initiate drought-relief measures to support farmers.