It was time for paddy growers—or their political masters rather—to unite for a better deal. After all, the Government had just raised the minimum support price for wheat. Amid the hullabaloo, there was an interesting sideshow. TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu managed to fix an appointment with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar ahead of anyone else. It was a challenge for Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh to show their clout and outdo Naidu. In this competition, the Congress MP from the state, V Hanumantha Rao, succeeded in getting an appointment with Pawar at his residence a day ahead of Naidu’s meeting. But then politics can be a cruel game. While Rao and his colleagues took up farmers’ issues at the meeting, Naidu proved a master tactician. In his meeting with Pawar, he briefly discussed the topic before sending the accompanying MPs out of the Agriculture Minister’s office. Then, it transpires, the newly appointed convener of the UNPA used the occasion for a political discussion with the Maratha strongman.
