Alleging Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh of downplaying the figure of farmer suicide cases like the Badals, the leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Sukhpal Khaira on Tuesday challenged him along with other parties to have an open debate on the issue.
Also accusing Capt Amarinder and his Government of “fudging” figures on the growing number of suicides by debt-ridden farmers in the State, Khaira urged the Congress-led Punjab Government to call for a special Assembly session on the farmer’s suicide issue.
“As an opposition leader, I have written a letter to the Punjab Government on the issue, but no reply has been received till date,” he added.
Khaira maintained that the farmers’ suicide cases will be a major issue during Gurdaspur lok Sabha bye-election. Questioning the farmers’ suicide data disclosed by the Chief Minister in the present Congress government rule so far, from March till September 2017, Khaira said that he was surprised to read the “fudged figures”.
Noting that while in Opposition, Capt Amarinder would often accuse the Badal government of misleading people by fudging figures, to hide their failures, be it the budget or farm related suicides, Khaira claimed that as per data collected by his assembly office from July 1 to September 18, as many as 118 farmers and labourers had committed suicide. “If 118 farmers had committed suicide in just 79 days, one can imagine how many farmers would have committed suicide in the remaining period commencing March 16 to July 1, that is 106 days,” he said.