Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday said the ongoing farmers' march is mainly backed by political parties and some organizations of Punjab adding that he has been trying to contact Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh regarding the farmers' march since the last three days, but he did not respond.
Khattar said it is really unfortunate and condemnable to see how some people are furthering their political agendas in the name of farmers, appealing to the farmers of Punjab that their representatives should hold talks with the Central Government as this is the only solution.
Interacting with media persons after presiding over the meeting of District Public Relations and Grievances Committee in Gurugram, Khattar said, “I personally made several calls to the Punjab Chief Minister but every time the request was denied. It is really unfortunate to say that this is the first time it has ever happened that one Chief Minister is trying to talk to another Chief Minister, but his counterpart is not ready to talk,” he said.
Only Chief Minister Punjab can answer as to why he refused to talk, said Khattar, while responding to a question asked for the reason behind Capt Amarinder Singh not taking his calls. “My office told me that they tried to contact him (Capt Amarinder) over telephone on six to seven occasions and every time his staff used to say we will soon get back and then they used to give the plea that the CM was busy in a meeting and so on.”
“But it was a very strange situation that the chief minister of a state wants to talk to his counterpart of another state but is unable to get through after so many attempts. For six years, I have been a CM. Never before such a thing has happened. We even talk to opposition leaders. Earlier too, I have been having telephone conversations with the Punjab CM and even when he was busy, he used to call back after 30 or 60 minutes. This time for three days attempts to reach him were made, but he didn't respond,” alleged Khattar.
Alleging a conspiracy, he said “card holders” (officials) in the Punjab CM’s office have been directing protesters. Replying to a question, Khattar asserted that farmers should talk to the Centre. “There is no purpose of bringing large gatherings to Delhi. We appealed to Punjab farmers that their representatives could come and talk. Farmers must talk to the Centre, that is the only way forward,” he said.
Meanwhile, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij in Ambala said, “Farmers from the rest of the country have accepted the new farm laws but in Punjab due to political reasons and Amarinder Singh''s engineering, they are holding a stir.” He hoped that farmers will soon realise that the laws are for their benefit.
The Haryana CM said farmers of Haryana did not participate in this march, for which he thanked them. Appreciating Haryana Police for dealing with this march, the Chief Minister said that the police showed restraint and did not use any force. The State Police only tried to stop the farmers from unjustifiably marching towards Delhi in such a large number.