Expressing serious concern over the “casual and nonchalant” attitude of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab Government towards resolving farmers’ issues, senior Congress leader and the Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday said that Punjab’s farmers were getting a raw deal under the Bhagwant Mann Government.
Bajwa said that the state government’s casual approach towards resolving issues pertaining to farmers was a cause of serious concern and worry. “The Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), under the leadership of Joginder Singh Ugrahan, has been sitting outside the Chief Minister’s house in Sangrur for nearly 18 days. They were out in the open and forced to observe Diwali on the roads far away from their homes,” said Bajwa, adding that one call by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to the farmers could have united the farmers with their families on the day of festival of lights.
“When the farmers were agitating on the outskirts of Delhi last year, they had no option but to observe the festival on the roads as the BJP Government at the Centre had not withdrawn the three contentious farm laws by then. Though the farm laws were withdrawn, the pending demands have not been met or accepted either by the Union or the State Governments,” said the senior Congress leader.
Whether it is about getting a legal right for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of the crops, justice in the road rage case occurred at Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, distress sale of moong dal which was promoted by none other than Bhagwant Mann himself, Direct Sowing of Rice (DSR) against which Rs 1,500 were promised per acre to the farmers, or compensation for the damaged crops due to inclement weather — the farmers have still got no justice from either the Union or the State Government, he said.
Bajwa said that in fact, Mann was also resorting to double standards by failing to sack his corrupt Cabinet Minister Fauja Singh Sarari. “We will not let Bhagwant Mann Government rest in peace till he, being the president of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab, drops his corrupt Minister,” he added.
Bajwa, Cong Leaders Working in Cahoots with BJP: AAP
Responding to Bajwa’s allegations, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday accused him and other Congress leaders of working in cahoots with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to make its ‘Operation Lotus’ successful in Punjab. “Bajwa is working as an agent of BJP in Punjab, with only one objective of how to destabilize the government elected by three crore people of the State,” said AAP’s chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang. Saying that Bajwa is the Leader of Opposition and must act like one, Kang said: “People of Punjab will never forgive him if he tries to topple the government elected by Punjabis.”