Farmers Movement Archive

‘We suffered due to negativity against Akali Dal’

Even as the BJP leaders are facing severe criticism from all political parties due to the ongoing farmers’ protests against the farm laws, BJP district president Pushpinder Singal believes that the party is in favour of farmers and truth will come out victorious, but it may take time and farmers will realise that the laws are for their benefits. He said political parties like the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal are using farmers to find their lost ground among voters. Here are a few excerpts from the conversation between Singal and TOI correspondent Nidhi Bhardwaj. Q-- How the BJP leadership will reach out to farmers to make them understand the farm laws, especially when Union ministers have failed in doing the same? A- Leaders at different levels are trying to convince the farmers in favour of the farm laws. The Union ministers tried at their level and conducted meetings. Even Union home minister Amit Shah met the farmer leaders. The government offered that it would give in writing that MSP and mandi board would remain there. And cases could be shifted from the SDM court to the main court. These were the basic demands that the farmers had raised earlier and the government had assured them of fulfilling these, but still farmers are agitating, so anybody can guess who are behind these protests. The political parties are using farmers to fulfil their selfish means, which is not right. Certain anti-national powers are backing these protests because they want to spoil the peaceful atmosphere of the country, but they will not let this happen at any cost. Q- The BJP is running a parallel campaign through social media for convincing the farmers about these laws. But even there it is facing criticism. What you have to say about it? A-We are trying at every platform, whether social media or personal meetings, to convince the farmers. We are trying to put up the government’s side by clearing doubts about the farm laws. As far as criticism is concerned, it is everywhere. There are certain people in society who are born to oppose and in this case also a similar thing is happening. Parties like the Congress and even Akali Dal are trying to achieve their selfish means and they have nothing to do with farmers or their welfare. People are criticising PM Modi so that he should stop, but it is not going to happen as he will continue with his policies. The farmers had not asked for Rs 6,000, but Modi started putting money in the account of farmers. The Congress is the party that had announced to end MSP and mandis completely, but the BJP was assuring that these would stay and even after the laws were passed the crop was purchased at MSP and it happened through mandis. Q- The BJP leaders are trying their best to make farmers understand these laws. Don’t you think all these efforts should have been done before passing these? A-It is not right. The attempts to bring these farm laws were being made some 20 years ago when the Congress was in power. A video of Congress leader Kapil Sibbal is also going viral, where he announced to bring these laws and end MSP as well as mandis. And as far as discussion in the House is concerned, when its draft was under consideration everything was in the knowledge of Akali Dal and even former CM Parkash Singh Badal had announced that these farm bills were in favour of farmers. But when Akali Dal saw the Congress using farm laws for its benefit, Akali leaders thought that these would prove harmful for them in Punjab, so they took a U-turn. Q- Seeing the scenario, what will be the BJP’s fate in the upcoming assembly polls, especially when Akali Dal has also broken ties with you. And on what ground the BJP will contest the elections? A-We will contest all seats independently and for that our workers are working at the ground level. As far as Akali Dal and our alliance is concerned, it was due to negativity against the Akali Dal that we suffered. There are many issues to be taken in elections. All promises made by the congress in 2017 were never fulfilled, whether employment to youth, drugs, smart phones, pension schemes, shagun schemes, etc. Moreover, during the pandemic, the Congress government forced the migrants to go back to their native places because party leaders could not distribute ration among the needy. Development is a major issue, especially for Ludhiana, and all works which are going on at the moment are funded by the central government. The Union government has released Rs 26 crore under the National Clean Air Programme. The Congress should tell what it has done for the people during these years. So, we will take up all these issues with the voters. Q- This time, along with the Congress, you will have to fight against the Akali Dal as well. How prepared are you for the same, especially when Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal called the BJP ‘tukde tukde gang’? A-Our party workers are enthusiastic to fight any situation and it is for this reason that we are strengthening our base. When time will come, we will fight against the Akali Dal as well and we will give better governance here in Punjab unlike the Congress, where CM Amarinder Singh remained busy in fighting with Navjot Sidhu and voters did not get anything. Moreover, the BJP has never done wrong with parties associated with it for a long time. As far as Sukhbir Badal’s comment is concerned, I think he wanted to say that Akali Dal got distributed in pieces and by mistake he called BJP ‘tukde tukde gang’. Q- Do you feel insecure while staying in Punjab, especially after some attacks on BJP leaders?A-I do not think there is any kind of insecurity for BJP leaders. No doubt, protests are going on and some of our leaders also faced resentment. Their houses were gheraoed, but we have been given security by the administration and we are moving freely as we were doing earlier. Whenever there is any protest, security is provided near our office as well. Though it was provided a little late, but it is there with us.

The Times of India

2020-12-21

Ludhiana