TDP leader calls Jagan’s mango yard visit a ‘political stunt’

TDP spokesperson and Andhra Pradesh Biodiversity Board Chairman Neelayapalem Vijayakumar has dubbed the visit of YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to the mango yard, scheduled for Wednesday, at the end of the mango season as a ‘political stunt’, with no actual purpose to serve.

In the wake of Mr. Reddy’s visit to Bangarupalyam mango yard in Chittoor district on Wednesday, Mr. Vijayakumar suggested to him to visit the scores of fruit pulp processing units owned by YSRCP leaders in Chittoor district, and demand justice for the farmers.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, he wondered what the YSRCP did during its tenure when the mango price crashed between 2021 and 2023.

“The government is paying a subsidy of ₹4 per kg of Totapuri mango now, but the YSRCP regime did not even pay ₹1 during a similar crisis two years back,” he said, terming the visit of Mr. Jagan as ‘shedding crocodile tears’.

Referring to Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s call to the farmers to protest against the government, Mr. Vijayakumar asked the farmers to demand justice by squatting in front of the PLR Foods, a mango processing unit owned by YSRCP leader Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy.

Taking exception to Mr. Jagan’s comparison of the A.P. Government’s subsidy of ₹4,000 per tonne as ‘meagre’ when compared to Karnataka’s ₹16,000, Mr. Vijay Kumar termed it as a ‘fallacy’.

“While the latter’s support has a cap of five tonnes per hectare, our State government is providing ₹4,000 without any limit on production,” he pointed out.