Barely two days after he won the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat in a landslide victory, YSR Congress chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday launched a 48-hour fast to highlight farmers' plight in Andhra Pradesh.
He went on a fast at the Reddy college grounds at Nallapadu, a suburb of Guntur. Jagan said that the objective of his fast is to make the state and central governments realise the kind of hardships that farmers in the state were facing.
He said, "Farmers want the government to pay the minimum support price to paddy and buy the crop that was damaged by rains. MSP provides a guarantee to farmers, but what is the sanctity of MSP if farmers don't get the money."
He said that mounting paddy stocks is making lives of farmers miserable by pushing them into debts. Eight members of legislative assembly, three members of legislative council and a member of Parliament are fasting with Jagan.
The 13-acre venue of the fast started overflowing with farmers, despite the scorching sun. Huge hoardings and banners supporting Jagan have been put up in the area.
