Farmers Movement Archive

SAD urges President to not give assent to farm bills passed by Parliament

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has urged President Ram Nath Kovind to not give assent to the farm bills which were passed by Parliament on Sunday.SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal requested the President to return these bills to Parliament for reconsideration.The SAD, part of Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had opposed the bills, calling them anti-farmers. Badal had on Saturday said that there can be no talks with the Centre until agriculture bills are taken back.Also read: 2 farm bills clear Rajya Sabha hurdle amid protestsBadal said the passage of the bills marked a “sad day” for democracy and millions in the country.“Democracy means consensus, not majority oppression,” the SAD leader said in a statement shortly after Rajya Sabha passed two of the three bills.“Please stand by the farmers, ‘kisan mazdoors’, ‘arhtiyas’, mandi labour and Dalits. Please intervene on their behalf with the government. Otherwise they will never forgive us,” Badal said in the statement.The party showed its opposition in the Rajya Sabha too on Sunday. Its leader and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had resigned in protest against the bill.Dubbing the SAD chief’s sudden U-turn on the farm ordinances as a cheap gimmick to hoodwink the farming community, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday dared Sukhbir Singh Badal, to quit the BJP-led Centre to prove his party’s sincerity in the matter.Amid an uproar by the Opposition, Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.They were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday. A third bill is yet to be passed in Rajya Sabha.

Hindustan Times

20-09-2020

India