Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers protest: AAP ups ante, quotes RTI document to slam Amarinder Singh

The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday upped its ante against Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh over the ongoing protests of farmers and claimed that Singh was a member of the committee which approved the three contentious laws that farmers are protesting. The party also attached an RTI document which proves that the Punjab CM was one of the 10 members of a high-powered committee of chief ministers for 'Transformation of Indian Agriculture'.The order for setting up of the committee, as seen in the RTI document, was passed in August 2019. Then Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Kamal Nath, former CM of Madhya Pradesh, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh were part of the committee, apart from agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand.Protesting farmers assure 'Kisan Gantantra Parade' will be peaceful"When you had the document in 2019, why didn't you tell the farmers that the Modi government was set to bring such anti-farmer laws," AAP leader Raghav Chadha said.RTI Exposes @capt_amarinder's lies.Punjab CM was a member of the committee that approved the 3 Anti-Farmer Farm bills.#DhokhebaazCaptain pic.twitter.com/Ne6r3U1P6bSince the beginning of farmers' 'Dilli Chalo' protest, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh locked horns over farmers' issues. The allegation that AAP has brought on Sunday is not new as Kejriwal has been accusing Amarinder Singh of drafting these laws. The RTI documents have now been added to AAP's attack.Singh had earlier answered to the accusation without denying that he was part of the committee but he had said that these farm laws were not discussed at any of the meetings of that committee.These farm laws were NOT discussed at any meeting & your repeated lies will not change that Mr @ArvindKejriwal. And naturally BJP can’t accuse me of double standards as I don’t have any nexus with them like you have. They after all have to cover up their collusion with you! https://t.co/R7Diu8jrzNThe farmers' protest, meanwhile, stares at a dead-end as the union leaders have rejected Centre's proposal of staying the implementation of the farm laws for 1.5 years. The farmers who have been camping at various points on Delhi's borders with neighbouring states since November are now preparing for their Republic Day tractor march. The Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of the laws and has set up a committee which is listening to several farmers' unions from all over the country.

Hindustan Times

24-01-2021

India