Farmers Movement Archive

Ludhiana: Controversy over farm bills merely a distraction, says BJP state president

A day after chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh expressed fears over the controversial farm laws having a detrimental impact on the security situation of the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president, Ashwani Sharma, accused the CM of using the protests to deviate the attention of the people from the failures of his government.“Be it the worsening Covid situation or the death of innocent men in hooch tragedy, the ration scam or the scholarship scam, Captain’s government has failed on every front. In order to divert attention from the real issues, he has beguiled innocent famers and triggered protests against the Union government,” said Sharma.Targeting Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, Sharma said, “We honoured the Akali Dal as alliance partner. Sukhbir Badal even supported the farmer bills and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal even gave interviews in favour of them. Now both of them are saying the provisions in the bills were not discussed with them,” said Sharma.On farm bills, Sharma said, “We will not touch the established system of procurement. We have just provided another option to the farmers to sell their produce at a premium. The decision is being projected as harsh to cash in on the farmer vote bank, but these new laws are going to help farmers in the long run.”He added that a committee of BJP leaders had been formed to speak to the farmers about the new bills and their benefits.“When this ordinance was introduced, I had personally visited the farmer union leaders to assure that MSP and mandi system will stay put. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s objective is to uplift the social stature of farmers and double their income,” he said.Meanwhile, SAD worker Ravinder Verma along with former DPRO Gurdev Singh and his supporters joined the BJP.

Hindustan Times

29-09-2020

City