Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) legislative wing on Tuesday asked Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana KP Singh to call a special emergency session to enact new legislation to make the entire State a single marketing yard as well as annul the amended APMC Act of 2017 and announce that three central Agri Laws will not be implemented in the State.
The members of SAD legislative wing, who were led by legislature party leader Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, also impressed on the Speaker that doing so would be in consonance with the core principle of federalism.
In a representation to the Speaker, the party made it clear that the new Agri laws were an attack on the federal structure and that the Vidhan Sabha should act like a bulwark to ensure the powers of the States were safeguarded. “We cannot stand mute even as the powers of the State are steadily diluted,” it added.
Stating that Punjab and Punjabis were facing an existential crisis, the legislators including Bikram Singh Majithia and Gurpartap Singh Wadala told the Speaker that the “time to save the ‘annadaata’ from utter ruin is now”.
They said that this could be done by enacting legislation to safeguard the farmers of Punjab from the ill-effects of the central Agri Acts. They also disclosed how SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal had suggested nearly a fortnight back to bring in legislation to make the entire State a single Mandi (Principal Marketing Yard) but the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh was playing flip flop on this issue and weakening the cause of the farmers of the State.