Farmers Movement Archive

My expulsion from BJP pre-planned, started a new innings: Anil Joshi

Former Punjab local bodies minister Anil Joshi on Tuesday said that his expulsion from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was “pre-planned” and he has started a “new innings”. Joshi was expelled from the BJP for six years three days ago for alleged “anti-party activities”. He has expressed solidarity with the farmers agitating against the Centre’s three contentious agriculture laws and questioned the role of the party’s state leadership in handling the issue. “I have come to seek blessings for initiating a new journey. I urged the Guru Sahib to give me the strength to walk on the path of truth and honesty. I also request God to show us the path of serving the people of Punjab by rising above petty politics,” the ex-minister said after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple and the Durgiana Temple in Amritsar along with his supporters.“They (BJP leaders) might be thinking that they punished me but for me it is a medal I received for voicing for people’s rights. I raised my voice for 500 farmers who died during the agitation,” he said.On taking BJP leaders hostage and manhandling them by the agitating farmers at Rajpura, he said, “What happened at Rajpura was not good but it was a result of the stubbornness shown by the Union government on the issue of farm laws. The state party leadership has failed in handling the issue wisdom and maturity.”On the possibility of his joining a political party, he said, “I am still thinking what I can do for Punjab, my motherland.”

Hindustan Times

14-07-2021

Chandigarh