Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) and former Minister T Harish Rao, along with other party leaders, were detained by Hyderabad police on Saturday during a protest rally highlighting Telangana’s severe urea shortage. The demonstration, starting at the State Assembly and moving to the Agriculture Commissioner’s office in Basheerbagh, saw BRS members brandishing empty fertilizer bags and chanting slogans like “Ganapati Bappa Morya, Kavalayya Urea” and “Empty sacks to farmers, sacks with cash to Delhi,” accusing the Congress-led government of neglecting farmers while misdirecting funds. In a dramatic turn, KTR stepped out of the detention vehicle and marched to the Telangana Secretariat, escalating the political showdown.

The protest, backed by farmers’ unions and BRS cadres, aimed to spotlight the acute urea crisis crippling Telangana’s Kharif season, with paddy cultivation surging 30% due to an early monsoon. Farmers face long queues, with some waiting days for limited supplies, raising fears of a 20–25% drop in yields, per agricultural experts. KTR submitted a memorandum demanding immediate urea supplies and a 15-day Assembly session to address farmer suicides (600+ reported in 2025), crop losses from recent floods, and irrigation issues. “Under KCR’s 10-year rule, urea shortages were unheard of. Why are farmers queuing for hours now?” KTR asked, alleging Congress mismanagement and possible black-market rackets.

The Congress government, led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, blames the BJP-led Centre for supplying only 40% of Telangana’s 2.5 lakh metric tonne urea quota for August, a claim echoed by CM Reddy on X, urging immediate central intervention. Conversely, BJP MLA Paidi Rakesh Reddy asserted the Centre provided adequate stocks, accusing the state of hoarding and mismanagement. BRS leaders contrasted their governance, citing KCR’s 2019 effort to secure 1 lakh tonnes of urea in three days via 25 special trains, with the current crisis.

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The detentions, condemned by BRS as “repression,” coincided with the looming tabling of the P C Ghose Commission report on Kaleshwaram project irregularities, implicating former CM K Chandrashekar Rao. Harish Rao, while being detained, accused the government of delaying state employee salaries, broadening the protest’s scope. The crisis, affecting 75 lakh cultivators, has sparked statewide farmer protests, with Vikarabad farmers staging a dharna with a buffalo to symbolize Congress’s “ineptitude.” As Telangana’s Assembly session nears, the urea shortage remains a volatile political flashpoint, with BRS leveraging farmer distress to challenge Congress’s 20-month rule.

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