Quit public life, pave way for young leadership, Badal told

The Punjab Congress on Monday asked Chief Miniter Parkash Singh Badal “to quit public life all together and pave way for a more dynamic younger leadership” in case he was “helpless, feeble and incapable to resolve the agrarian crises despite being Chief Minister for the fifth time”.The party urged him “not to further exploit the innocent farmers to reap personal political dividends”, and dared him to pressurise the Modi Government for implementation of Swaminathan Committee report if he was genuinely interested to resolve the farmers’ problems.

“In case you fail to do so, you should not only quit as Chief Minister but if you have an iota of morality left, you should quit politics all together and pave way for a more younger dynamic leader who has the willpower to deliver results and is not defeatist, incompetent, inefficient and helpless like you,” said former MlA Sukhpal Khaira.

He said, “I was appalled, alarmed and mostly dejected to read Badal’s statement expressing helplessness on the burning issues of the farmers and recommending to the Centre setting up of some committee, to resolve the agrarian crises facing Punjab and the country.”Khaira told Badal, “The recommendations that you made to the central government are so obsolete and routine, that they clearly display your callous and non-serious attitude towards the farmers, who have been instrumental in taking you and your family to political heights. Your recommendation to set up a committee to suggest measures to revamp the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system and to make agriculture profitable, are something we have been hearing from you for the past more than 50 years.”

The Congress leader pointed a colossal debt of over Rs51,000 crore leading to a spate of suicides by not only farmers but farm labourers as well, from every nook and corner of the state.Besides, he highlighted that potato growers have been throwing their produce free of cost as a mark of protest in Jalandhar. “Sugar mills owned by ultra-rich businessmen have issued public notices, announcing closure of their units for the ensuing 2015-16 cane crushing season. But there has been not a word of sympathy from you on the pitiable plight of these farmers,” he said.