Five Ministers and some MPs of TRS who had been camping at New Delhi since Saturday last seeking a written assurance from the Centre that it would purchase the entire quantity of paddy cultivated in recent kharif returned on Friday night empty-handed.
Before leaving, the delegation had made a last-ditch effort to seek an appointment with Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal through the Resident Commissioner of the State government in the capital but Mr. Goyal was reportedly unavailable.
The Ministers waited till Friday as Mr. Goyal had informed them when they last met him that the Centre would require two days to consider the demand for procurement of paddy over and above the quota fixed for the State.
Before leaving for Hyderabad, Mr. S. Niranjan Reddy and other Ministers told a media conference that they had no option but to leave for Hyderabad and purchase the entire quantity of paddy from farmers and dump the stocks at India Gate in the capital to expose the indifference of the Centre. Ministers V. Prashant Reddy, G. Kamalakar, E. Dayakar Rao and G. Jagdish Reddy were present.
