Facing attack from all sides for agrarian crisis in the State, adoption of panthic agenda, his family’s business interest, and myriad other issues, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday was on his back foot defending himself and his party.
Even as Badal made it clear that SAD-BJP alliance would contest 2017 State Assembly polls “together”, he did not mince a word to blame the Central Government for the farm distress in the State while shrugging off the responsibility of the same.
Striking a clarificatory note with the journalists during ‘Meet the Press’ programme on Sunday, Badal gave justifications on the issues the opposition parties are targeting the State Government, the SAD and the Badals.
On the farm crisis, Badal said: “Nothing is in the hands of the State Government. “The Centre decides the prices at which farm produce is to be sold, be it cotton, paddy or wheat. Even State has nothing to do with day-to-day expenses in agriculture. Delhi decides the rates for pesticides, insecticides, feed, diesel,” he said.
The State, on its part, provided power subsidy to farmers but the escalating cost of other inputs made agriculture non-remunerative, he said, while asking the Centre to create more scientific storage capacities.
Badal also reiterated his stand to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan report, which the SAD and the BJP had promised before the 2014 lok Sabha polls. “I have raised this issue every time. We can only apprise the Union Government of our viewpoint but cannot argue in the meetings,” he said adding that he and the party had always raised this demand even during Congress’ 10-year tenure.
The five-time Chief Minister said that he would raise the State’s agrarian problems at the meeting of Chief Ministers with the Prime Minister in New Delhi, scheduled for July 15. He also suggested that a high-powered committee should be formed by the Centre, which will go into challenges faced by the country’s agriculture sector.
Visibly peeved over the allegations of SAD adopting panthic agenda, Badal questioned if following the High Court’s directions to shift Guru’s relics to Sri Anandpur Sahib is panthic agenda. “It was High Court’s directions…we just followed that,” he said. He also lashed out at the opposition parties for making such a hue and cry over shifting of two Sikh prisoners to Punjab while referring to the convicted Khalistani militant Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar and TADA convict Gurdeep Singh Khera.
Categorically saying that their shifting to Punjab did not pose any threat to peace and communal harmony of the State, Badal said: “The State Government followed the procedure laid down by the Central Government within the ambit of law of the land, that too with the prior consent of Ministry of Home Affairs.”
“They said that terrorism will return to State…they have spent 30 years of their life in jail…what’s wrong if they were brought near to their families…Unnecessary clamour and apprehensions is absolutely out of context and beyond anyone’s comprehension,” said Badal while reiterating that maintaining peace and communal harmony was the highest priority of his Government.
CHANDIGARH IS PUNJAB’S RIGHT
Once again raising the years’ old issue of transfer of Chandigarh and other Punjabi speaking areas to Punjab, Badal said that Chandigarh is Punjab’s right as every parent State gets the capital but Punjab is betrayed against. He said that everything was finalised and the day Chandigarh was to be transferred to Punjab, it was “betrayed” by the Parliament.
Stressing that the state was in favour of resolving all issues including that is Chandigarh, water issues, among others, amicably with the neighbouring Haryana, Badal said: “Our endeavour is to solve the issues by sitting across the table, but some issues have become so complicated over the years that there can be no easy solutions to them…no one is ready to let it go.” He also stated that it was not possible to resolve these issues on the political level.
‘NO DRUG MANUFACTURED IN PUNJAB’
Facing flak from various quarters on the drug issue, Badal said that drug is not an issue of Punjab alone, like militancy was.
“Heroin makes its way from Afghanistan..,” he pointed out, adding that Punjab has been pro-active in taking action against drug smugglers and in some cases, even their properties have been seized. To a related question, he said: “One has to understand that drugs are not produced in Punjab.”
AAP, Cong NO CHAllENGE
Ruling out any electoral challenge from the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the 2017 state assembly polls, Badal said that no one can foresee election results.
“No one can foresee election results. It’s the people who decide. No one is an astrologer to say what will happen in one, one-and-a-half years’ time. But on the basis of performance of our alliance in the state, I can say that people will make a wise decision,” he said.
Hitting out at the AAP, Badal said: “People have experienced and seen what happened in Delhi…The hype and hoopla surrounding them stood exposed.”
“We (SAD) don’t take things for granted and do our job of serving people honestly and leave the rest to them,” he said.
PRAISES NDA GOVT
Asked to comment on NDA Government’s performance at the Centre during the last one year, Badal said: “At the international level, country’s prestige has gone up. Punjab has also benefited after the NDA government was formed.”
He said though there is no end to satisfaction, but Punjab has largely benefited
with many projects for the State including Amritsar, besides horticulture university, IIM, and other projects including roads.
“Centre, in the last one year, has given fillip to the stalled projects in Punjab. The most important is the status of Heritage City to Amritsar,” he said.