Amarinder, Sukhbir trade charges over farm laws
Such senseless remarks show the Akali leader has completely lost the political narrative, forcing him to fumble. AMARINDER SINGH, CM
Instead of taking SAD’S suggestion, the CM chose to enter into a deal with the Centre and get wishy-washy bills passed. SUKHBIR BADAL, SAD chief
CHANDIGARH : Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday once again attacked each other over the Centre’s farm laws. While Amarinder claimed that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has “lost political narrative” over the issue, Sukhbir alleged that the state bills passed against the farm laws aimed at “sabotaging” the farmers’ stir.
The CM said the SAD chief seemed to have been jolted into desperation by the entire farm laws saga, which had completely exposed the “double standards” of the Akalis. Reacting to Sukhbir’s statement, where he accused the CM of colluding with the Centre to get the rail blockade by farmers lifted, Amarinder retorted that such “strange and senseless” remarks showed the Akali leader had completely “lost” the political narrative, causing him to fumble for words and desperate to find a way out.
On the SAD chief’s suggestion that the state government should have taken the SAD’S advice before bringing the bills against the farm laws in the assembly, the CM said, “It seems the NDA government at the Centre has taken the advice of their then allies, the Akalis, in the matter of the anti-farmer, antifederal and anti-constitutional farm laws.” That would explain why they messed it up so badly and took the unilateral decision to impose laws that are clearly designed to ruin farmers, he added.
Terming the SAD president’s allegation of collusion between him and the BJP as “ludicrous”, the CM said Badal appears to be in a state of “mental despair and denial”.
Sukhbir accused the CM of not taking his party’s suggestion and said he instead “chose to enter into a deal” with the Centre and get “wishy- washy” bills passed with the sole intention of “sabotaging” farmers’ agitation.
Sukhbir added that the only solution was declaring the entire state as a principal market yard which would have negated the implementation of the central farm laws in Punjab. He has also posed four questions to Amarinder, asking him to clarify if the bills had annulled the Central agri-marketing laws, and secondly, when will these bills actually take effect. In his third question, he asks that had the new bills made the Minimum Support Price ( MSP) a statutory right of farmers. Finally, Sukhbir asks if the CM had guaranteed government purchase of all 24 crops falling under the MSP regime.
“You know your bills will not be approved by the Centre. You have not even annulled the amended Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act, 2017, which is a copy of the central agri acts.”
Guarantee MSP or quit: AAP to CM
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday urged CM Amarinder to guarantee procurement of all crops at the MSP by bringing in its own laws to protect interests of state’s farmers, or step down as the CM.
Addressing a press conference, party MLA Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said that with Modi government adamant on implementing the laws, the onus of guaranteeing procurement of crops at the MSP had fell upon the state government.