The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders and former Ministers Kurasala Kannababu, Kakani Govardhan Reddy and Seediri Appalaraju on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the coalition government over the recent hike in aqua feed prices, alleging a nexus between ruling party leaders and feed manufacturing companies.

In a statement, the YSRCP leaders termed the hike in aqua feed prices as “atrocious” and accused the government of allowing feed companies to exploit aqua farmers. They alleged that the prices had been increased unilaterally after the coalition government came to power and claimed that the government failed to intervene despite being aware of the developments.

The leaders alleged that feed companies had not reduced prices even though import duties on raw materials had been lowered and raw material costs had declined. Instead, the companies further increased feed prices, imposing an additional burden on aqua farmers already struggling with rising input costs, they said.

Taking exception to the remarks made by Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Kinjarapu Atchannaidu, the former Ministers described his comments as “laughable” and alleged that he was trying to evade the anger of aqua farmers.

Alleging that a major scam was behind the latest hike in feed prices, the YSRCP leaders demanded that the government immediately roll back the increase. They warned that the party would launch an agitation on behalf of aqua farmers if the issue was not resolved.

The leaders further alleged that aqua farmers were already facing severe hardships due to inadequate power supply and the lack of diesel support, and said the latest feed price hike had worsened their problems further.