Captain lashes out at SAD for ‘misleading’ farmers on loan waiver

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday lashed out at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for “misleading the people” over government’s ₹9,500 crore farm loan waiver, which would benefit 10.25 lakh farmers.

Lambasting SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal for playing with the sentiments of the people, Amarinder said the former CM had failed to take any initiatives for the benefit of farmers during his 10-year tenure.

Reacting to the SAD core committee’s rejection of the government’s notification on farmers’ debt, the CM challenged Badal and party president Sukhbir Singh Badal to prove their allegations against the government pertaining to the loan waiver.

The CM said when his government had announced the loan waiver scheme in the Vidhan Sabha in June, Badal had failed to attend the session. The CM warned the Akalis against “pursuing a negative agenda”, saying people of Punjab were not willing to listen to them.

“Having failed to take any step for the welfare of the farmers during their tenure, the Badals now were trying to demean the initiatives being taken by the Congress government despite the financial crisis inherited by the state from the erstwhile SAD-BJP government,” said Amarinder.

On the SAD allegation on the closure of certain government schools, the CM said, once again, the party was misguiding the people by “mutilating the truth.” The fact was that the government had decided to merge 800 government schools with less than 20 students with adjoining schools situated in one-kilometre radius, he added.