HYDERABAD: Alleging that it was because of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s adamant stand that paddy farmers in the State were facing a crisis, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy challenged Rao to prove that the Centre had refused to procure rice.

While speaking to the media in Delhi, he held a copy of the letter that he said the State government had written to the FCI saying Telangana would not supply parboiled rice. “The Centre has never ruled out procurement. As per the agreement, it is clear that procurement of all types of paddy were agreed upon,” he said. “KCR is fickle-minded and has no proper knowledge of farming. He is confusing farmers as to what they should sow,” the Union Minister added.