Hours after accompanying the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to hand over the counter-bills passed unanimously by the House on Tuesday, AAP MLA and the Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema expressed his hunch over the law passed saying that the Congress Government was “trying to befool the people of Punjab”. Cheema, in a statement issued from party headquarters late in the evening, said: “Our fears over the anti-farmers laws and their far-reaching disastrous ramifications stand substantiated.”
“Upon meeting Governor of Punjab today, we have sought views of farmers’ leaders, farm and legal experts and intellectuals on the controversial laws, as there was no time for scrutiny of these bills in the assembly due to paucity of time,” said Cheema. He added that the Chief Minister had stated that with the passage of this Act in the Assembly, the three anti-farmer black laws would be rendered in fructuous and would not be implemented in Punjab. Cheema, questioning the veracity of Chief Minister’s statement, said: “Was any State Government within its powers to cancel the laws passed by the Union Government. If not, then he (Amarinder Singh) has been lying to hoodwink people of the state”.
“The farmers of Punjab, at this point, needed a legislation that ensured that if the Union Government ran away from procurement of crops at MSP, the State Government should ensure under the ambit of law that in the event of non-procurement of crops by private players at MSP, the Punjab Government would procure the same at MSP,” he said.