Farmers of eight villages of the Kamareddy district on Thursday protested against a municipal master plan which if implemented, would lead to the acquisition of their plots for industrial use.
They tried to march and lay a siege to the collectorate demanding the withdrawal of the master plan following the death of a farmer called Ramulu who hanged himself after he found his land to be part of the master plan.
The death and the protest comes at a time when the BRS is trying to project itself as a farmer-friendly party and its slogan for the 2024 election is “Ab ki baar kisaan sarkar”.
On the other hand, the BJP is trying to cash in the resentment among the farmers over the master plan while the state government was caught backpedalling on the issue.
Today, the farmers took Ramulu’s body on a tractor and marched to the collectorate for the protest, but the police stopped them midway and shifted the body to the hospital.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao said it was just a draft master plan and assured the farmers that they will look at it from the people’s perspective.
Both the BJP and the Congress extended support to the farmers’ agitation in Kamareddy over the Municipal master plan.