Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab BJP Kisan Morcha convener quits party

BATHINDA: Punjab BJP kisan morcha convener and BJP state committee member Tarlochan Singh Gill on Saturday resigned from the party and assured full support to the farmers, who are protesting against the central farm laws. The farmers had been sitting outside his home at Moga for the last several days. A week ago, BJP state general secretary Malwinder Singh had also resigned from the party over the issue of new farm laws. Tarlochan Singh said, “I felt the farmers will face a lot of hardships after the enactment of the three farm laws. Till now, I was trying to convince the Punjab BJP unit to take up the matter with the national leadership and not to go ahead with the legislations, but the party tried to use me as a Sikh face and asked to go to villages to convince farmers that these laws are beneficial for them.” Despite the farmers vehemently opposing first the ordinances and then the Bills tabled in the Parliament, the BJP-led government went ahead and got those passed, he said. “Going by all this, I found it fit to resign from the party. I had been associated with BJP for long as earlier I worked in BJP Yuva Morcha then in Kisan Morcha. But, now that the party has failed to feel the pain of the farmers, who freed the country, there is nothing left to hold me back in the party, so I decided to part ways.” With him, district level office-bearers Sardul Singh and Atma Singh also quit the party. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri welcomed the decision of Gill and his assurance to support the farm protests. He announced to lift the sit-in from the residence of Tarlochan Singh.

The Times of India

2020-10-25

Amritsar