Date:15/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/15/stories/2008091559010500.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

TDP leaders ridicule Minister’s stand

HYDERABAD: Three senior Telugu Desam Party leaders on Sunday criticised Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy for feeling elated over the selection of Andhra Pradesh for the ‘agriculture leadership award’.

In a statement they said Mr. Reddy’s attempt to conceal ‘failure’ in the farm sector amounted to ‘self-deception’.

Umareddy Venkateswarlu, R. Chandrasekhar Reddy and D. Veerabhadra Rao contended that depicting a rosy picture on the agriculture front showed the Minister’s “bankruptcy”.

Leaders alleged that during the past four-and-half years more than 5,000 ryots had committed suicide, on an average of four a day.

The government was trying to lower the figure on the pretext that they were not agriculture-related.