Why TRS joined the opposition ranks on farmers’ bills

NEW DELHI: K Chandrashekhar Rao-led Telegana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) joined the opposition ranks on the contentious farmers’ bills issue despite the fact that the ruling party in Telengana has consistently supported the Narendra Modi government on issues and legislations, except for its opposition to the Centre’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) last year. So, what are the possible reasons for the significant shift in the party's stand?
Party insiders say the TRS could continue to oppose the Centre depending on issues, from now on, instead of supporting it like it mostly did so far, because chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) feels “federal norms are being overruled by the Centre in an attempt to undermine state governments,” just as it happened in case of the farmers’ Bills that were “forcefully” passed in Parliament brushing aside parliamentary procedures too and that “TRS’ support to the Centre is now being taken for granted by the Modi government.”
On the farmers’ Bills, KCR had declared his opposition to the Bill in Hyderabad before the session started.According to TRS Rajya Sabha member K R Suresh Reddy, “TRS sees the legislation as a clear case of overriding the state’s role and with regard to the farm sector when Telengana has performed so well in agriculture. The state provided higher MSP (minimum support price) to its farmers than the Centre in the last Rabi season for maize. Centre offered Rs 1000 as msp, while the state offered Rs 1750, to the farmer’s benefit. For paddy, Telengana alone accounted for 40% of the entire procured in the country in the last season. When the state government’s intervention can help farmers there is no need for corporate intervention.”
Reddy told TOI that, “farmers would have been out in the streets protesting across the country if they were not busy in their fields at present for the peak sowing season for the kharif crop.”
He said, “instead of bulldozing the Bills, the government should have allowed voting in Rajya Sabha, to see who was on which side on the farmers Bills.”
After having supported the Modi government, even as it maintained an official distance from BJP-led NDA — in lieu of assurances from the Centre to provide support to rebuild Telengana post the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 — KCR’s disappointment after six and half years seems to stem from “the Centre’s failure to honour its promises.”
According to TRS Rajya Sabha member K R Suresh Reddy, “the Centre has been ignoring the Telengana government. In six and half years, it has not fulfilled its assurances on AP reorganisation Bill or referred the Krishna river water dispute to a tribunal. There are other shared issues with other states like the GST compensation to states.”