CHANDIGARH: Even as the anti-farmer bills have been adopted by the Narendra Modi union government of India, the Badal couple is illogically trying to shift target from Modi to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
While addressing the protest staged by the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) at Lambi, the party president Sukhbir Badal and his wife Harsimrat Badal criticized the BJP-led government but in a guarded manner. They did not name Prime Minister Modi, but named Captain Amarinder several times blaming him for the move of centre.
Later on, the party issued a statement against the Chief Minister, wherein, the party spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said, “The Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, his Cabinet colleagues and Congress MLAs have once again betrayed farmers by running away from farmer protests being held throughout the state today as no senior Congress leader attended protests anywhere in the state today”.
“It is most unfortunate to see that when the farmers protested not only in Punjab alone today but in the whole country, a programme of which was announced much earlier, majority of the senior Congress leaders skipped these protests. The SAD not only contributed in these protests by its ‘Chakka Jam’ programme and stood with the farming community, but CM, his ministerial colleagues and Congress MLAs and other leaders were turned their back towards these protests which is highly condemnable”, he said.
The SAD (B) leader said that what Congress did today in Punjab was only eyewash because Congress itself is interested in such law. He said that Capt. Amarinder Singh amended the state APMC act in 2017 as per his promise and the same promise was included in 2019 party Manifesto during Parliamentary polls.
Thus, like Badals, he too blamed the CM for these bills again and again in the official statement of the party, but spared those who have adopted these bills.
While addressing the protests across the state, all the SAD (B) leaders avoided attack on Modi.
On the issue of alliance with BJP, the Badals are befooling the people of Punjab.
Yesterday, Sukhbir stated that alliance with BJP does not matter for them and what matters are the interests of Punjab, but on the other hand, he is still supporting the BJP in centre. He had stated that the party core committee would decide about the ties with BJP on the day when his wife resigned as Union Minister of Food Processing. The meeting was held thereafter but Badals are silent over these ties and not revoking support to the party against which they are protesting.
Apart from this, Harsimrat did not clarify her stand as to if she herself considers these bills anti-farmer or not. While addressing a gathering at Takht Sri Damdama Sahib yesterday, she once again uttered that the centre did not remove doubts of the farmers about the bills. So, she is still considering wrongs in the bills “doubts” of the farmers.
