Farmers Movement Archive

SAD stir theatrics, says Amarinder

Chandigarh: The planned protests of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was theatrics by the Badals to revive their party’s fortunes, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh charged on Sunday. These desperate tactics would not work as Akalis have completely lost face in the wake of their humiliation over the contentious farm laws, he claimed. Ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections early next year, the SAD was trying hard to get back into people’s good books despite losing its moral right to face the people due to their double-speak on many vital issues, including the ongoing farmers’ agitation, said Capt Amarinder. A day before SAD’s protests against the state government’s failure on several promises, the chief minister termed SAD claims of rising power tariffs, higher taxes on fuel and law-and-order situation as ridiculous. He said it was the SAD that had plunged Punjab into such a mess during their 10-year-rule, in collusion with BJP. However, he said, Punjab has improved the law and order as well as its fiscal situation in the past four years of the Congress rule. The record implementation of 85% poll promises by the Congress government cleared the progress made by the state over the past four years and nails the lie of SAD allegations, he added. Responding to the SAD’s accusation of withdrawing postmatric scheduled caste scholarship, Amarinder said either the Akalis were falsifying facts to mislead the people or did not want to expose their own role in the affair. “They were part of the central government when the latter pulled out of the scholarship scheme,” he asked.

The Times of India

2021-04-05

Chandigarh