KCR warns Centre of country-wide agitation if the paddy issue is not resolved

He was also critical of Union Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal whom he accused of insulting the Telangana farmers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not forget that farmers tears have forced many government governments in the past, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said in Delhi. He was speaking at day-long dharna in Delhi where the entire state cabinet and all TRS lawmakers sat protesting against the union government's alleged discriminatory paddy procurement policy.

The Centre has refused to procure paddy from Telangana this Rabi season reiterating its stand that it would only purchase raw rice and not parboiled rice which the majority of the state produces in this season.

He also laid down a 24-hour deadline for the Modi government to resolve the stalemate and threatened to take the protest across the country if the government failed to respond.

Was it a crime to grow paddy, Mr. Rao asked. "I want to caution Prime Minister Modi from playing with the emotions of a farmer. He should remember that whenever a farmer is forced to shed tear the government has always been pushed out of power," he added. The dharna was also attended by Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait.

Mr. Rao who has been lobbying to construct an anti-BJP front sans the Congress also asserted that he will bring together every non-BJP party together to fight for legal backing for Minimum Support Price. He also said that while he in Delhi on Monday only to speak on the paddy issue, he will be back soon to talk to the opposition parties on Presidential Elections.

Declaring an all-out war with the BJP-led union government he said, "Mightier governments than theirs have been ousted. Hitler and Mussolini have gone... are they here to rule for 1000 years? Why such arrogance?"

Mr. Rao also accused the union government of misusing the central agencies to harass the opposition.