LS clears farm bill but SAD votes against it

SAD was not consulted before ordinances were framed. The Centre has erred grievously in not taking stakeholders on board.

SUKHBIR SINGH BADAL,

president, Shiromani Akali Dal

CHANDIGARH Shiromani Akali Dal, the key constituent of the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, voted against a contentious farm bill that was passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Three farm sector-related ordinances were cleared by the Union cabinet recently and the corresponding bills were tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday. One of them -- the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020 -was taken up for a discussion and passed by a voice vote.

Participating in the debate, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal described the bills as antifarmer and said the Centre never consulted his party before the ordinances were framed.

“Even when the ordinances were being discussed in the cabinet, my wife and Union food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had raised objections and conveyed the concerns of farmers. She had requested the ordinance be put off, but her voice was not heeded to,” Sukhbir said, adding that Punjab will be the worst-affected state by these legislations.

Underlining that he himself hails from a farming family, Sukhbir, in an emotive speech, said: “Every Akali is a farmer and every farmer is an Akali at heart. The SAD has always championed farmers’ cause.” “The party’s legacy cannot and will not be compromised or diluted, no matter what price we have to pay,” he said, speaking in Punjabi. The SAD’s strident stand is seen as a sign of fissure in its over two-decade-old alliance with the BJP. Farmers in many states, including Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting against these bills. Sukhbir said all Congress and Aam Aadmi Party MPs from Punjab abstained from voting.