Harish Rao Accuses Revanth Reddy Government of Betraying Farmers, Enabling Land Grabs for Industrialists
Former Telangana minister and Siddipet MLA T. Harish Rao launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, accusing him of betraying the trust of farmers and facilitating large-scale land grabs in favor of industrialists. Rao alleged that the Congress-led state government is sidelining the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, enabling the forceful seizure of agricultural lands, and subjecting protesting farmers to brutal police and private security violence.
Citing a recent incident in Pedda Dhanwada village in Jogulamba Gadwal district, Rao condemned what he described as an unprovoked and indiscriminate assault on farmers by police personnel and private bouncers hired by an ethanol factory. “The Chief Minister, who proudly proclaims himself the son of Palamuru, has remained silent more than 24 hours after this shameful attack in his own district,” Rao said. According to Rao, law enforcement filed criminal cases against 40 farmers and remanded 12 of them, while no action was taken against the private bouncers or the factory owner responsible for the violence.
“Why hasn’t the government initiated any proceedings against those who assaulted the farmers?” Rao asked. “How many such incidents have occurred in the brief one-and-a-half-year tenure of this government?” Harish Rao went on to list several other alleged instances of police excesses and state-backed intimidation of farmers across the state:
- Lagacharla (Pharma Project): Lambada farmers opposing a pharma project were reportedly handcuffed and detained without justification.
- Dilawarpur, Nirmal District: Protesters against an ethanol factory were allegedly beaten and booked.
- Zaheerabad, Nyalakal: Farmers facing land acquisition for a Greenfield highway project were targeted with legal action.
- Chilakaluru, Suryapet District: 42 farmers were reportedly booked for merely questioning the delay in loan waivers.
- Yervachinta, Nirmal District: Farmers who raised concerns over grain procurement faced criminal charges.
Rao accused the Congress government of using state machinery to suppress dissent and benefit “preferred” industrialists through backdoor deals and commission-driven development projects.
“This administration is not working for the welfare of farmers but for the profit of a few elite power players,” Rao alleged. “Every instance of brutality against farmers, every land grab, and every case filed to silence dissent takes Telangana further away from the dreams that shaped this state.”
Calling for immediate justice, the senior BRS leader demanded the unconditional release of the 12 farmers arrested in Pedda Dhanwada and urged civil society, human rights bodies, and commissions to take note of repeated rights violations against Telangana’s agrarian community.
