Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday slammed the BJP-led Union government for rejecting the state's request to relax moisture norms for paddy procurement and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately intervene to protect the state's farmers.

In a social media post, Stalin said the Centre had turned down Tamil Nadu's plea to allow procurement of paddy with a higher moisture content in view of heavy northeast monsoon rains in the Cauvery delta and other districts.

Only on Wednesday did the Prime Minister attend a farmers meet in Coimbatore, after the Centre had denied a Metro rail project for the western city, besides Madurai.

''Even before the dampness of his visit has dried, the union BJP government has rejected our request for relaxation of moisture norms in paddy p

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