Warangal: Farmers Won't Give Their Lands For TRS Vijaya Gharjana In Hanamkonda

Hyderabad: Farmers in a village in Hanamkonda district are opposing the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) holding a massive public gathering on November 29.

Farmers in Hasanparthy Mandal's Devannapet village staged a protest on Friday against officials' claimed attempts to acquire their agricultural lands for the meeting in Warangal.

When a group of officials went to examine the fields at the meeting's chosen location, they were met with opposition from farmers.

Farmers chanted anti-TRS slogans and stated unequivocally that the lands would not be given to the 'Vijaya Garjana,' as the TRS meeting is known.

One of them stated that their crops were ready for harvesting and that if their lands were used, they would suffer significant losses. They urged that the TRS seek another location to hold the meeting.

Another farmer claimed that TRS leaders, revenue authorities, and police were threatening them for refusing to hand up their farms.

Farmers have mounted a protest for the second time in three days, refusing to give up their lands for the gathering. Farmers protested against TRS politicians on Wednesday, including government whip Vinay Bhaskar and former minister Kadiam Srihari. When farmers refused to allow TRS politicians inside their fields, they claimed that a local TRS corporator and several party workers harassed them.

TRS leaders were barred from visiting their farms by the protesters. The governing party wants to host its huge public gathering here since it is near the Hyderabad-Warangal route.

Farmers argue that because gravel will be used to level the land as part of the meeting's arrangements, the soil will be harmed, making it impossible for them to grow crops in the future. They claim that the borders of their landholdings will be eliminated as well.

The TRS intends to organise ten lakh people for the huge rally being held to commemorate the party's two-decade existence. According to the governing party's officials, the meeting would highlight the party's successes over the previous two decades and the development accomplished by the state under TRS leadership since 2014.

Farmers' resistance to TRS came soon after the party's setback in the Huzurabad Assembly by-election.

Last month, TRS stated that the meeting would take place on November 15. It was agreed to change the date to November 29 on Monday, a day before counting votes cast in the by-election for the Huzurabad Assembly constituency.

K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the Chief Minister and TRS president, said the meeting was rescheduled at the request of Warangal party officials, who wanted it to coincide with Telangana Deeksha Diwas on November 29. On this day in 2009, the TRS head launched an indefinite hunger strike to demand Telangana's statehood. The hunger strike, together with widespread protests across Telangana, compelled the then-Congress-led UPA administration at the Centre to announce that the process of forming Telangana State would begin.