The Shiromani Akali Dal on Sunday hit out at Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for his comments linking the farmers suicides with the SAD-BJP Government and advised him to leave his laughter show to visit families of those farmers who have committed suicides to know the real reasons behind increase in these unfortunate incidents.
In a statement, the SAD spokesman Virsa Singh Valtoha said it was most unfortunate that incidents of farmers suicides had increased during recent months in the State and these were a big loss of not only immediate family members of the victim but also of the State as well as of the nation as farmer of Punjab was known as food grower for the country.
Valtoha said it was also most unfortunate that the present Government particularly two Cabinet Minister including Navjot Singh Sidhu and Manpreet Singh Badal were continuing issuing statements for the farmers and making mockery of their State of affairs.
He said one asked them to leave one time meal and the other was blaming their suicides to reasons which are not existent today. Sidhu has forgotten that after the Congress came to power, farmers have already sown two crops including wheat and paddy for which season was now on and this Government has miserably failed to keep its promises with the farmers of the state, said he.
Valtoha said time and again these Ministers were mocking the farmers that two lakh rupees of loan have been waived whereas banks are harassing farmers to deposit their instalments or face action.
He said even the banks had told the Government that they would only accept full amount instead of instalments for the loans of the farmers and the Government had failed to deposit even a single rupee with the banks.
The SAD leader challenged Sidhu to name even a single farmer whose loan have been waived by the Congress government.
He added that it is loan waiver scheme of the Congress party which has contributed to increase in suicide cases and most unfortunate is that in last few months, more than 275 farmers have committed suicide as they failed to pay their loans because of this scheme of the Congress.