‘Manukota spirit’ will propel farmers to teach a lesson to Revanth, says KTR

Manukota in Telangana teaches lesson to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for 'snatching' lands of poor farmers.

The Manukota (Mahabubabad) proved a turning point in the separate Telangana movement 14 years ago and the same Manukota is poised to teach a fitting lesson to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, whom the BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao termed as a ‘dictator’ who was trying to ‘snatch’ the lands of poor in Telangana.

He was addressing a Maha Dharna held in Mahabubabad on Monday to express solidarity with the ‘agitated farmers’ of Lagcherla village in Vikarabad district who are opposing the proposed ‘Pharma Village Project’ at Lagcherla.

Mr. Rama Rao alleged that the local farmers agitated for nine long months against the arbitrary move to forcibly acquire their lands and the Chief Minister did not find time to know the problems of people in his constituency in the last nine months. “But he had visited Delhi for 28 times without bringing even 28 paise to the State”, Mr Rao charged.

The locals protested against the officials recently, he said, referring to the November 12 incident during the public hearing at Lagcherla. The power of farmers is so strong that they compelled Prime Minister Narendra Modi to repeal the controversial farm laws by organising a protracted struggle for almost a year, he said.

He said the aggrieved farmers, including several tribal women of Lagcherla, narrated their tale of woe to the National Human Rights Commission and other agencies over the coercive measures to acquire their lands. Despite lodging around 30 farmers in jail, the tribal women of Lagcherla raise their voices in unison against the Pharma Village Project.

“We had taken permission from the High Court to organise the dharna in Mahabubabad as the police denied permission to hold the protest programme,” he said. Some Congress leaders threatened us with dire consequences if we organise protest here in support of agitated farmers of Lagcherla, he alleged, saying, “We will not be cowed down by such intimidating tactics.”