Even as the agitating farmers on Friday took to the streets to register their protest against the Centre’s recently-enacted agriculture laws, the political parties in Punjab were busy in fighting their own little battles among themselves on the issue. Right from ruling Congress, led by the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, to the State’s main Opposition party — Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) indulged in blame game against each other for the current situation the agriculturists are facing.
DISTRESSING VISUALS OF FARMERS MAY FINALLY TOUCH CENTRAL GOVT: CAPT AMARINDER
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday expressed hope that pain of agitating farmers, who braved the pandemic and heat to protest against the Agriculture Bills, will reach the Central Government, and “it will gracefully back off from destroying the farm sector with such ruthless disregard for the farming community”.
“The BJP-led Union Government, with its ill-conceived and unconstitutional farm laws, has pushed the farmers to the brink, forcing them to come out on the roads and endanger their lives amid the COVID pandemic,” said the Chief Minister, expressing grave concern over the plight of the farmers and others associated with the Agriculture sector — “the lifeline of the Punjab’s economy”.
The Chief Minister hoped that the distressing visuals of tens of hundreds of farmers out on the roads at hundreds of locations in Punjab, and in several other states, will touch the hearts of the central leadership, while adding, “Perhaps, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will now realize its folly”.
Reiterating his commitment to fight the draconian laws till his last breath, Capt Amarinder also urged the President Ram Nath Kovind not to give his assent to the Bills, which were crafted to destroy not just the economy of Punjab and the food security of the nation but also the lives of lakhs of farmers and their families, as well as those dependent on the agricultural food chain for their livelihood.
“The Bills, if implemented, will have devastating effects for the border state of Punjab, as well as for the entire nation,” he warned, charging the Centre with ignoring the farmers’ concerns to promote the interests of their capitalist cronies.
The Chief Minister said that the Punjab Government, along with the Punjab Congress, will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the farmers to oppose the Bills, and will take whatever steps needed, including moving the courts, to scuttle the Centre’s dangerous attempt to demolish the state’s well-established farming network.
Captain Amarinder also lashed out at the Akalis for their public posturing on the Bills, which even the farmers had dismissed as crocodile tears. “Akali double standards have been totally exposed by the fact that they continued to be a part of the anti-farmer ruling coalition at the Centre and had, till date, refused to even come out with any public criticism of the Union Government. This drama of Harsimrat resigning from the Union Cabinet is not enough to convince the farmers of SAD’s sincerity,” he added.
AAP ASKS CAPT, SUKHBIR TO DESIST FROM PEDDLING LIES ABOUT ANTI-FARM LAWS
Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Punjab unit president and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann on Friday appealed to the people of Punjab, especially the farmers’ associations, to be vigilant over the misleading statements being made by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and SAD (Badal) president Sukhbir Badal on the “draconian” farm laws being pushed by the Union Government. “Chief Minister is trying to befool people of the state, especially the farmers, offering to lead the ongoing big fight against the Modi government’s black laws. While the people of Punjab have voted, supported and elected him to lead the agrarian state in 2017 with an overwhelming majority, he has failed to live up to the expectations of any section of the society during his four and a half years tenure in power,” he said.
Mann reminded that during the all-party meeting on June 24 this year, and during Vidhan Sabha session, the Chief Minister had agreed to lead all political parties, barring the Badals, to Delhi to register their protest against anti-farmer legislation, but Capt Amarinder backtracked on the issue.
SAD HELD ‘CHAKKA JAAM’ PROTESTS ACROSS PUNJAB IN SOLIDARITY WITH FARMERS
Holding protests across the State as part of its ‘chakka jam’ programme to express solidarity with farmers, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday asked Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to call an immediate cabinet meeting and pass an ordinance to declare the entire State as one mandi (Principal Market Yard) to ensure the Centre’s agricultural Bills are not enforceable in Punjab.
The Badal couple — SAD president Sukhbir Badal and former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal — led the party’s protest ‘tractor march’ from his residence in Badal village by driving a tractor while his wife Harsimrat sits beside him. The Akali workers held protests in all constituencies of the State along with farmers, khet mazdoor and arhtiyas.
Sukhbir, speaking at the protest meeting at Lambi, said that the Chief Minister should call a cabinet meeting immediately and come out with an ordinance to declare the entire State as a principal market yard.
“Subsequent to this, the Government should also hold a special session of the State Assembly to ratify the Ordinance,” he said adding that he had moved this proposal two days back and the Government should move quickly on this to save the future of our coming generations.
Harsimrat maintained that it was Capt Amarinder who had backstabbed the farmers as he knew since August last year that the ordinances were in the offing. “There is a concrete proof the same in the form of a letter received by his government but he chose to remain silent instead of protesting against the move to protect the interest of farmers. I, on the other hand, resigned from the Ministry when I realized the misgivings of farmers were not being addressed. If Capt Amarinder is so concerned about farmers, he should also resign his post,” she said.