SAD warns DGP of gherao if farmers booked in fake cases

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday warned Punjab Police chief Dinkar Gupta of ‘gherao’ if a false case is registered against any farmer in connection with the attack on BJP state president Ashwani Sharma.

Addressing a press conference here, SAD leaders Bikram Singh Majithia and Daljit Singh Cheema said the party would stand with farmers who were holding a peaceful agitation against the farm laws.

The two leaders said it was shocking that both chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Gupta had come out with identical statements, stating that 25 farmer organisations were linked with the attack on Sharma two days after a case was registered against unidentified persons in the matter. “This is nothing more than a nefarious attempt to derail the farmer agitation, which we will not allow in any circumstance,” they said.

“Even the Congress MP from Ludhiana, Ravneet Singh Bittu, has confessed that Congressmen were behind the attack. Why isn’t the state government taking any action against Bittu instead of targeting innocent farmers?” they asked.

The SAD also condemned the Congress government for ‘rubbing salt into the wounds of Dalit students’ by announcing a budgetary provision of ₹600 crore for the SC scholarship scheme for 2021-22 after not releasing ₹2,440 crore pending for the last three years. Former chief parliamentary secretary Pawan Kumar Tinu challenged the CM to tell if his government had released a single rupee from the allocation of ₹2,440 crore. Party to table private member bill for entire state as one mandi CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal ( SAD) on Thursday announced that it will table a private member bill demanding the entire state be declared as one ‘mandi’ (principal market yard) to protect the interests of farmers. The bill – The Punjab Agricultural Produces Markets (Amendment Bill), 2020, will be moved by SAD legislator Bikram Singh Majithia who met Vidhan Sabha speaker Rana KP Singh and requested him to allow presentation of the bill by removing the 15-days clause, needed to move the same as per rules, considering that the assembly had been convened only on Wednesday by giving a four day notice.

Addressing a press conference, Majithia said he would move the bill because chief minister Amarinder Singh was only going through the motions of calling a special session of the Vidhan Sabha as a “ritual’ after SAD put him under pressure. There are indications that the state government is also drafting a bill to declare the entire state as a “principal market yard” to negate the impact of the Centre’s laws.