Even as the farmers’ agitation against the controversial farm laws at the Delhi borders completed two months on Sunday, Punjab’s ruling Congress party and the principal opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are engaged in war of words over the State Government and Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s involvement in paving way for the controversial legislations.
With allegations and counter-allegation continuing ever since the farm bills were passed by the Parliament some four years back, both Congress and AAP on Sunday come out with documentary evidences to support their claims.
Hours after AAP’s Delhi MLA and Punjab co in-charge Raghav Chadha alleged that Punjab Chief Minister knew about the farm laws and was privy to the terms of reference of the high-powered committee constituted to make and discuss the laws in August 2019, Capt Aamrinder ridiculed it as “AAP’s brazen lies”.
In fact, his Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, who had attended one of the meetings of the high-powered committee on farm ordinances, released the “minutes of the meeting” to claim that the “three contentious farm bills were never brought up or discussed in any meeting with the Government of Punjab or with any Punjab Minister”.
AAP’S ALLEGATIONS
AAP’s Punjab unit co- in-charge Raghav Chadha on Sunday alleged that the Punjab Chief Minister knew about the farm laws, but he chose to remain silent for a year and did not share the information with the state’s farmers.
“The Chief Minister knew about the terms of reference clearly mentioned in the office memorandum, which would mean large scale privatization and corporatization of agriculture in the country,” said Chadha, who was sharing information received by AAP through an RTI.
Chadha, who was addressing the media in Jalandhar, said that the Punjab Chief Minister didn’t oppose the farm laws well in time, when they could have been withdrawn.
Capt Amarinder said he did not have any information regarding the laws and he or the State was not a member of the committee.
He also said that Finance Minister was sent to the formal meeting because it was a financial issue. But the RTI makes it clear that as per an office memorandum dated August 7, 2019, that the Chief Minister was the seventh member of the high powered committee of CMs constituted by the Prime Minister.
He was privy to what the laws entailed since August 2019,” said Chadha.
Reading out from the RTI, Chadha said that the Prime Minister approved the revised constitution of a High-Powered Committee of Chief Ministers for the ‘Transformation of Indian Agriculture’ on August 7, 2019.
“In the agenda of the committee, the terms of reference included key three points — Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation Act, 2017; Agricultural Produce and Livestock, Contract farming and Services (promotion and Facilitation Act), 2018; and “to examine various provisions of the Essential Commodity Act and situations that require essential commodity act,” he added.
Underlining that the ‘terms of reference’ also detailed the privatization of agriculture, Chadha said: “This means Capt Amarinder was aware that the laws would lead to breaking of mandis, weakening or finishing of the MSP law and largely the privatization of agriculture.
He was aware that the laws would lead to hoarding and enslavement of farmers but he chose not to speak about them for a year nor inform farmers or farmer unions.”
AAP leader also dared the Chief Minister “to share one document with us where you opposed the terms of reference for the laws. If farmers knew the laws, the passing of them could have been stopped beforehand”.
MANPREET’s DEFENCE
Coming to the defence of the state government and the chief minister, Punjab finance minister manpreet singh badal on Sunday said that the High-Powered Committee’s minutes clearly show that the three contentious farm bills were never brought up or discussed in “any meeting” with the Government of Punjab or with any Punjab minister.
“The minutes of the meeting with the Union Government have already been released in the public domain. Anyone who reads the minutes will note that the farm bills were neither brought up nor discussed, nor were they on the meeting agenda,” said Manpreet.
He said that he had already released the eight-page minutes of the meeting in the public domain on September 18, 2020. Further, to clarify any questions, “I have addressed the entire issue in detail on September 24, 2020.
The video of the press conference is available in the public domain,” said Manpreet while sharing links for the same.
“Instead of supporting the rights of farmers, the AAP is parroting the same line that is being used by the BJP and SAD to sabotage and discredit the hard-working farmers,” he added. Manpreet said that it was evident that the NDA Government and AAP are working in cahoots with each other to sow confusion by misleading the people. “However, since the entire minutes are with the public, they know the truth,” he added.
“It is thus surprising that when the minutes of the meeting of the High Powered Committee for Transformation of Indian Agriculture is already with the public, the issue is being raised again and again to confuse the farmers’ agitation,” he said adding that it would have been good that instead of casting aspersions and trying to sabotage the farmer’s cause, if AAP and Akali Dal were to lend support to the farmers.
Terming as “intriguing” the timing of AAP’s press conference as it comes when the protesting farmers have announced their tractor rally, Manpreet said: “It seems that AAP and the Akali Dal are rattled that they have not been able to sow division among farmers, and they are acting like spokespersons of the NDA government. “The debate has now gone much beyond what AAP and SAD are trying to raise. The solution is to heed to the farmers’ demands and take the same route that was adopted by the Punjab Government under the leadership of Capt Amarinder Singh in negating the bills,” he added.