Babu bets Left support in fight for crisis hit farmers

Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday managed to gain the support of the Left parties in his fight to highlight the acute crisis facing the farmers in the state.

The Left parties’ leaders, including Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat and Communist Party of India leaders D Raja and Sudhakar Reddy separately assured Mr Naidu of working together to corner the government on the issue in Parliament.

However, the Left leaders sought Mr Naidu’s support for their opposition to the Lokpal Bill.  

According to sources, the Mr Naidu discussed the acute crisis being faced by the farmers of Andhra Pradesh and is believed to have told the Left leaders that many farmers were on the verge of quitting the profession in desperation.

The TDP chief is believed to have told the Left leaders that the situation is becoming graver by the day.

CPI leader A Raja, during his meeting with the former chief minister, proposed an all party delegation should visit the affected areas of the state and elicit first hand information from the farmers.

Mr Raja told the TDP chief that the ruling UPA government can be more effectively cornered in Parliament if the opposition is armed with date collected during a field visit.