A political conspiracy at farmers’ expense

It’s not the state government, nor is the Congress party to blame. A political conspiracy hatched by the Opposition is intensifying Telangana’s urea crisis, turning a manageable shortfall into a full-blown storm. In the parched fields of the state, farmers like Ramaiah from Nalgonda district are caught in a desperate struggle. Day after day, Ramaiah joins hundreds outside Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, clutching empty sacks, waiting for urea—the lifeblood of their crops during the critical Kharif season.

The hope of a bountiful harvest, spurred by early monsoons, is fading as fields go without this essential fertiliser. In villages like Medapalli in Warangal, tensions boil over, with women farmers clashing with officials as thousands compete for dwindling supplies.

The images of endless queues, some marked by slippers left as placeholders through the night, tell a story of frustration and fear. For these farmers, the lack of urea isn’t just a logistical hiccup—it’s a threat to their livelihoods.

Blame game over urea: Centre vs state

Telangana’s urea crisis, escalating since July 2025, has exposed deep fault lines in agricultural supply chains and political accountability. The state needs 9.8 lakh metric tonnes of urea for the Kharif season, with 8.3 lakh metric tonnes required by August.

Yet, only 5.42 lakh metric tonnes have arrived, leaving a shortfall of nearly 2.88 lakh metric tonnes. Farmers have taken to the streets, blocking roads and demanding answers, their protests fuelled by the fear of crop failure.

The Congress-led state government, under chief minister Revanth Reddy, finds itself in the crosshairs of this anger, despite the root issue lying outside its control.

Urea, a heavily subsidised fertiliser, is managed by the Union government, which controls its allocation and distribution. Telangana’s agriculture ministry has repeatedly pleaded with the Centre for timely supplies, arguing that the state has been short-changed by 3.2 lakh metric tonnes between April and August. The early sowing prompted by good rains has only spiked demand, making the supply gap even more glaring.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), holding power at the Centre, has deftly shifted the narrative to shield itself from blame. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy has accused the state government of mismanagement, alleging that allocated urea is being diverted to the black market for profit. He points to national urea stocks—183 lakh metric tonnes against a demand of 143 lakh metric tonnes—as proof that the shortage is a state-created mirage, fuelled by panic buying sparked by Telangana’s Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao’s public warnings.

Another BJP MP, Raghunandan Rao, has suggested sabotage, hinting at a mysterious “Operation Sindoor” to pin the crisis on local failures. This tactic paints the Congress government as incompetent, redirecting farmer frustration from central supply chain lapses to alleged state-level corruption. Critics see this as a calculated move by the BJP to undermine opposition-ruled states, especially as Telangana’s leaders demand fair treatment in Parliament.

BRS seizes moment to target Congress

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Telangana’s main opposition, has pounced on the crisis to reclaim political relevance. Leaders like K T Rama Rao and T Harish Rao contrast the current chaos with their decade-long rule, claiming farmers never faced such shortages under K Chandrashekar Rao.

They’ve criticised the Congress for letting buffer stocks—once robust at 5 lakh metric tonnes—dwindle to a mere 52,294 tonnes, including private holdings. The BRS has orchestrated protests and flooded social media with stories of farmers’ plight, accusing the state of lacking foresight. In a bold move, the party tied its support in recent Vice-Presidential polls to a demand for 2 lakh metric tonnes of urea by September 9, positioning itself as the farmers’ champion and eyeing electoral gains in upcoming by-elections.

Farmers caught in the crossfire

As the crisis deepens, with warnings of worse shortages unless four incoming urea shipments are prioritised for Telangana, the Congress government is on the defensive. State ministers insist there’s “no shortage,” promising an additional 37,877 metric tonnes by month-end and urging calm. But farmers, staring at fields that could fail without timely intervention, remain unconvinced.

The Centre’s fertiliser subsidies have slipped from Rs 1.23 lakh crore in 2023-24 to Rs 1.19 lakh crore in 2024-25, worsening reliance on volatile global urea markets.

For Telangana, which aims for fertiliser self-sufficiency by 2025, this crisis is a stark reminder of systemic vulnerabilities. Caught between central neglect and opposition opportunism, the Congress government faces an unfair storm, while farmers like Ramaiah bear the true cost, their fields and futures hanging in the balance.