Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 9 -- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kerala chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday asked Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to exclude the state from its direction to states to discontinue granting additional bonus given to paddy farmers.

Chandrasekhar's demand comes a day after Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan attacked the BJP-led Union government for asking the state to stop giving paddy farmers a bonus over and above the minimum support price (MSP).

On Sunday, the chief minister said it had been procuring paddy from the farmers, paying an additional Rs.6.31 per kg over the MSP.

On January 9, Union expenditure secretary V Vualnam asked the state government to review its policy on paddy bonus, pointing...