Attack on farmers ‘barbaric’, says Jagan over Ponnur maize godown incident

Vijayawada: Former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has strongly condemned the attack on a maize storage godown in Mamillapalli village of Ponnur mandal in Guntur district. He accused TDP leaders and supporters of targeting farmers who stored their produce due to poor market prices.Farmers from Mamillapalli, along with godown owner Soda Samudrayya and Ponnur YSRCP in-charge Ambati Murali Krishna, met YS Jagan at the YSRCP central office in Tadepalli on Thursday. The farmers alleged that a large group of TDP activists and supporters forcibly entered the godown, broke open locks using iron rods, damaged property and assaulted those who tried to stop them. The delegation also showed photographs and videos of the incident to YS Jagan. According to the farmers, the attack was carried out under the encouragement of local TDP MLA, Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar. They alleged that nearly 500 TDP leaders, activists and supporters created panic in the village during the incident.Reacting sharply, YS Jagan termed the attack on farmers “barbaric” and said the victims were being harassed despite only storing maize due to the lack of remunerative prices in the market. He also objected to the alleged filing of atrocity cases against the affected farmers instead of taking action against those responsible for the attack.Assuring support to the victims, YS Jagan said the YSRCP legal cell would provide all necessary legal assistance to the affected families and that the party would stand by the farmers in their fight for justice. Several YSRCP leaders from Ponnur were also present during the meeting.