HARYANA GOVT LET BJP’S CENTRAL LEADERSHIP DOWN: BIRENDER

NEW DELHI : Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Birender Singh on Tuesday said the party’s government in Haryana and its Punjab unit didn’t handle the issue of farmers’ agitation properly and let the central leadership down.

Singh, who was Union ninister in the NDA government from 2014-19, said, “The intent of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government behind these three farm laws was to improve the quality of life of farmers and their overall welfare.”

He said the issue would have been resolved much earlier had the Haryana government and party’s Punjab unit addressed the farmers’ apprehensions effectively in initial days of the protest.

Hoping for an early resolution of the issue, the veteran leader said, “If this issue is not resolved early, then it could have serious repercussions for the BJP-JJP government in Haryana in the long run. I may have opted out of electoral politics but will continue to remain active politically and will now focus only on farmers’ issues.”

He said a think-tank in the name of his maternal grandfather and great farmer leader Sir Chhotu Ram has already been working in this direction. A Kisan Chamber of Commerce has also been formed under that think-tank, he said.

Singh, who was a Rajya Sabha member from Haryana, had resigned from the upper house after his son Brijendra Singh got a BJP ticket from Hisar in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Brijender had defeated Dushyant Chautala in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.