With the threat of eviction of Punjabi farmers in Gujarat becoming a political issue in Punjab, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday said that to protect the interests of Punjabi farmers who were apprehending displacement in the Kutch region, he would soon take up the matter with the BJP high command.
Talking to reporters after administering oath to newly elected Sarpanchs and Panchs of Bathinda district, Badal said that Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had always stood for safeguarding the interests of Punjabis in general and that of farming community in particular, residing across the globe.
Badal said that though the matter of farmers of Kutch region was pending in the Supreme Court, he would take up the matter with National BJP president Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to find some solution for this issue. “I will personally take up this issue with both these leaders to ensure the well being of our brethren in Gujarat”, he added.
Meanwhile, in New Delhi, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal made the cause of Gujarat farmers facing displacement from their lands his own by announcing that he would personally lead a delegation of Punjab MPs to Chief Minister Narendra Modi to plead their case. He also announced that Punjab government would bear the full cost of the legal battle of Punjabi farmers to retain their lands in the Supreme Court.
The Deputy Chief Minister, who met a delegation of farmers from the Kutch region of Gujarat who called on him at his residence in Delhi, assured them that the SAD was convinced about the justness of their cause and would do its utmost to ensure relief to them both on the political and legal front
To ensure quick relief to the farmers, who are paying lakhs of rupees as legal fee for every hearing in the apex court, the Deputy CM directed the State Advocate General to hire the best and most senior lawyers to represent them in the apex court. He also appointed party senior vice president Balwant Singh Ramoowalia to coordinate SAD’s efforts to win relief for the farmers on the occasion.
Thousands of Punjabi farmers of the Kutch area are fighting a legal battle in the apex court to escape eviction from their lands at the hands of the Gujarat government which has frozen their land holdings by invoking various tenancy and agriculture land acts. Earlier the farmers had won relief against eviction from the Gujarat High Court but the Gujarat government chose to appeal against the high court order in the apex court.
Media Adviser to the Deputy Chief Minister, Jangveer Singh said that the delegation led by Surinder Singh Bhullar, Satpal Giri, Rajpal Sandhu Pirthi Singh, Atma Ram and others laid bare the conspiracy of the Punjab Congress leaders to use the plight of the Gujarat farmers to hit out at the SAD-BJP regime even though they had done nothing for them. Bhullar disclosed at the meeting with the Deputy Chief Minister that forget helping them in their case in the apex court, the Punjab Congress had not even extended any humanitarian help to them.
Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, who brought the plight of the Gujarat farmers to the notice of the Deputy CM, thanked him for rising to the occasion and taking a firm stand that Punjabis who had given their life for the country and the progress of various States should be allowed to breathe freely in those States.