Punjab BJP chief blames farmer union leaders, opposition parties
CHANDIGARH : Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Ashwani Sharma on Saturday said that farmer union leaders and opposition parties were solely responsible for the “horrific killing” at the Singhu border near Delhi.
In a press release, Sharma alleged that Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait was fanning anti-national sentiments and is playing with fire by giving “provocative speeches” in a desperate attempt to further his political career.
The state BJP chief said the Singhu and Tikri borders have turned into hubs of heinous crimes like murders, assaults and lootings.
“Every time a crime is committed, the union leaders immediately distance themselves from it. This is a democracy and the law of the land cannot be taken into hands by people who further their political ambitions. People have suffered immensely for one year as this agitation has disrupted their daily lives,” he said.
“I was attacked on the Jalandhar-pathankot highway a few months ago and the police are yet to take any concrete action against those behind the murder attempt,” said Sharma.
The law and order situation in Punjab was in a shambles but the chief minister was more concerned about travelling to other states to lodge protest, he alleged. “He should focus on giving good governance to people in the state,” he said.
SKM cannot escape responsibility, say Dushyant, Kataria
Strongly condemning the gruesome killing of a man at the Singhu border, Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala and senior BJP leader Rattan Lal Kataria on Saturday said the Samyukt Kisan Morcha cannot escape from the responsibility for what happened at their protest site.
“It was a barbaric crime. Police are already at the job, conducting investigations into the case... But 40 leaders (SKM leaders) cannot escape from their responsibility,” Chautala, leader of the JJP, which is a coalition partner of the ruling BJP in Haryana, said.
He said the farmers movement is being spearheaded by the farm union leaders, and that in any organisation or department, its head is accountable for anything going wrong, likewise in any movement, its leader is responsible. “And this movement is being spearheaded by those 40 leaders,” Chautala told reporters in Gurgaon, adding that the farm movement leaders cannot escape from the responsibility for what happened.