lashing out at the Modi Government for its anti-farmer policies, Punjab Congress president and party’s Gurdaspur nominee Sunil Jakhar on Tuesday said that its decision to impose GST on agricultural tools and other similar measures had further broken the backbone of state’s beleaguered farmers.
Jakhar, addressing a series of worker meetings, said: “While the Badal government had destroyed the lives of farmers in the state by failing to pay a single penny to them, the Modi government had aggravated their woes with its anti-farmer and anti-poor policies.”
He also flayed Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for imposing GST even on wheat flour, terming the step as “anti-poor”. He said that the Modi Government was only interested in promoting the interests of corporates.
Jakhar said that the Akalis failed to approach the central government for waiver of farm loans. “Capt Amarinder Singh government had always worked to safeguard the interests of the Punjab farmers, he said while lauding the Chief Minister’s decision to waive off farm loans.
Referring to the contentious SYl issue, Jakhar said that it was Capt Amarinder who brought the Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Act, 2004, and later also took a strong stand against allowing even a single drop of Punjab’s waters to go out of the State.
Apart from GST, which he said had caused immense hardship to the business and trading community apart from other sections of the society, the PPCC president also hit out at the Central Government on the issue of demonetisation which had derailed the country’s economy. “No one gained from demonetisation. Around 200 lives were lost because of this ill-conceived decision and reports suggest that the impact of demonetisation will continue for three more years,” said Jakhar, adding that the Narendra Modi-Arun Jaitley duo was answerable to the people.
Taunting Modi over his ‘56-inch ka seena’ remark, Jakhar said that the BJP government had badly failed to stop infiltration from across the border. “Everyday our jawans are being martyred while a jumblebaaz and feku Government is running this country,” he added.
Jakhar also criticised the Modi government for the growing atrocities against the Dalit community, contrasting it with the welfare initiatives taken for the community by the erstwhile Manmohan Singh.