The Telangana BJP on Friday alleged that the State government was allowing a grain procurement mafia to operate, claiming illegal deductions and collections from farmers to the tune of ₹4,000 crore.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, BJP Legislature Party leader A. Maheshwar Reddy said rice millers were arbitrarily cutting 2-4 kg per bag under the pretext of quality or weight deductions, resulting in losses of up to 10 kg per quintal for farmers. Despite the Centre releasing advance funds for procurement, gunny bags, transportation, and labour charges, the government was forcibly collecting ₹75-₹80 per bag directly from farmers, he charged.

Warning of intensified protests, Mr. Reddy said the BJP would soon unveil a joint action plan if the government fails to procure every grain lying at procurement centres by June 1 as only “partial” quantities of paddy, soybeans, maize, sorghum, chickpeas, and sunflower were being purchased.

“There is no question of letting the government off the hook. Wherever we went, we witnessed first-hand the severe hardships faced by farmers, many of whom are forced to guard their produce in the scorching sun along with their families,” he said.

Narrating the experiecnes during the ‘Farmers-Distress, BJP Assurance’ tour, launched five days ago in Chevella and Pargi constituencies, Mr. Reddy said farmers were in deep distress after unseasonal rains damaged harvested grain, causing it to sprout. He said many were unable to dry or protect their produce, leaving them with mounting losses.

With the next cropping season approaching, farmers are unable to return to fieldwork as their produce remains unsold, he added. He also criticised Ministers Tummala Nageswara Rao, Bhatti Vikramarka, and Ponnam Prabhakar, accusing them of making uninformed statements.

It is “ludicrous” to attribute shortages of gunny bags to political developments in Bangladesh or diesel supply issues linked to the West Asia conflict, instead of blaming poor coordination among State departments. He challenged the Ministers to an open debate on procurement figures, claiming he had evidence to expose “abysmal failures” in the system.

He further alleged that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy were making false statements about 80% procurement completion when only about 45 lakh metric tonnes was done. The government began to act only after the BJP’s field visits and questioned why such urgency was missing earlier.