Farmers Movement Archive

Farm bills to be tabled in Parliament today, Akali Dal in dilemma

JALANDHAR: As three bills on agriculture marketing are being tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) finds itself in a dilemma over its response to the bills which have been rejected by the farmers in Punjab. With the list of business released by the Lok Sabha secretariat giving details of the bills being introduced by Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, it has become clear that the Akali Dal’s appeal to the Centre not to table central agricultural ordinances for approval in Parliament until all reservations expressed by farmer organisations, as well as farmers and farm labourers are duly addressed, did not work at all. Akali Dal had initially expected that these bills would be tabled later in the session so that they would get time to persuade the BJP to make some amendments in the proposed bills but the tabling of these bills on Monday has come as a shock for the BJP partner. The party till late on Sunday evening was not clear about its strategy. Well-placed sources in SAD have revealed that the party leadership is asking the BJP’s central leadership for a window so that alliance is not broken and SAD also manages to save its base among farmers in Punjab. It is learnt that Akali Dal is looking for a way out so that it either can abstain from voting or vote against the bills. “The party is looking for a way out by rather putting the ball in BJP’s court by explaining that due to such strong sentiment among farmers against the ordinances, the party apprehended losing its core vote base and then it would be detrimental for the alliance too,” said a senior SAD leader. It is learnt that majority view in the party was not to support the ordinances mainly due to the sentiment against the bills. “Our party always pursued its politics through sentiments of Sikhs and farmers but now it is caught in the same game with both constituencies — farmers and Sikhs — overlapping and remaining crucial for party’s survival,” said another SAD leader. “Had it been a discontinuation of the MSP, the party would have gone to the extent of breaking the alliance but on these three bills, the party does not want to break the alliance so it is looking for a middle path after talking to central leadership of BJP,” said a senior SAD leader privy to the latest discussions within the party on the issue. When asked, SAD general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra admitted that their planning had gone awry with the bills being tabled on Monday. “We expected that the bills would be tabled after some days and we would be able to work out some solution. We are working on the situation after the latest development,” he said.

The Times of India

2020-09-14

Ludhiana