Rajanna Siricilla: In a rare display of simultaneous political aggression, both the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched massive, separate dharnas in the textile town of Sircilla today, Monday, May 18, 2026. The dual protests targeted the Congress-led Telangana government, bringing local administration to a temporary halt and drawing thousands of agitated farmers and party workers to the streets.
While both opposition parties operated from independent venues to avoid direct clashes between cadres, their core grievances remained identical: severe administrative failure in paddy procurement, escalating unseasonal crop damage, and a sudden return of unscheduled power cuts impacting both agriculture and the local power loom industry.
The BRS protest, organized near the District Collectorate, was spearheaded by senior party leaders and local representatives. Addressing the massive gathering, BRS leaders accused the state government of pushing farmers into financial ruin by delaying procurement at IKP centers.
The party highlighted that thousands of quintals of harvested paddy have been left uncovered at market yards for over two weeks, leaving them highly vulnerable to recent unseasonal summer rains. BRS leaders demanded that the government immediately clear the payment backlogs, ensure the strict implementation of the promised Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs. 2,369 per quintal for common grade paddy, and instantly distribute tarpaulins to protect open grain stocks.
“The Congress administration has completely collapsed on the ground. Farmers are forced to spend sleepless nights at procurement centers, watching their hard work wash away in the rain. We will not relent until every single grain is lifted and fair compensation is credited to the farmers’ accounts,” a senior BRS representative stated during the sit-in.
Simultaneously, the BJP cadre staged a high-decibel dharna at the Sircilla town center, blocking key intersections to register their protest against the state government. The BJP focused heavily on the resurgence of unannounced power outages, which they claimed have severely disrupted automated irrigation pumps for farmers and devastated the livelihood of Sircilla’s iconic power loom weavers.
Local BJP leaders alleged that despite repeated official assurances of uninterrupted power supply, rural and semi-urban pockets of the Rajanna Sircilla district are facing multiple hours of blackouts daily. The party demanded an immediate stabilization of the local power grid and accused the ruling party of failing to maintain the basic agricultural infrastructure built over the years.
“From agriculture to the weaving industry, every sector in Sircilla is choking under this government’s incompetence. These power cuts are entirely artificial and stem from poor resource management. If the state does not restore seamless 24/7 power supply immediately, the BJP will escalate this agitation to a state-wide level,” warned a prominent BJP district leader.
With two major political forces occupying the town center simultaneously, the Rajanna Sircilla district police deployed heavy security contingents across all major junctions. Substantial barricades were erected around government installations and the Collectorate to prevent any escalation or potential friction between the overlapping rallies of the rival political outfits.
Though traffic across Sircilla town faced severe disruptions for several hours, the local police managed to keep the situation under control without any untoward incidents.
The coordinated yet independent timing of today’s double dharnas indicates a massive escalation in political pressure on the local administration. Observers note that with the procurement season reaching its peak amid erratic weather patterns, Sircilla has once again emerged as the primary flashpoint for Telangana’s intense agrarian political debates.
