Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu says Badal niti nirmata of farm laws

Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday said that the Parkash Singh Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government laid the foundation of the Centre’s three farm laws. Citing the Punjab Contract Farming Act, 2013, Sidhu told reporters in Chandigarh: “These (the three farm laws) were implemented by the Badals in Punjab first and then the Narendra Modi Government framed the three laws. The Centre’s farm laws are a photostat copy of the Act brought by the Badals.” Also read: Farmers are angry for valid reasons, but there are no easy solutionsHe called the then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal the “niti nirmata (policymaker)” of the farm laws. Flanked by the four working presidents of the Punjab Congress and state unit general secretary Pargat Singh, Sidhu aimed to step up the attack on the rival Shiromani Akali Dal on the contentious farm laws that have become the main rallying point among political parties in the run-up to the assembly elections early next year. Badals playing double game: Capt Amarinder Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh had also taken on the Badals as he sounded the poll bugle at Balachaur on Monday. He accused SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and his son and former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal of playing a double game on the farm laws passed by the Modi government last year. He said that the SAD, as an ally of the Modi-led NDA government, first endorsed the three farm ordinances but later did a U-turn under pressure from its rural constituency of farmers in Punjab. “The three farm ordinances were made in agreement of the Shiromani Akali Dal, as Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal was a part of the cabinet that passed the ordinances,” Capt Amarinder said. He said that the former chief minister, Parkash Singh Badal, had issued a video statement, endorsing the farm laws and advocating that there was nothing wrong in the new ordinances. He accused the SAD of abandoning the interest of farmers when its backing was needed and supporting them now when they are protesting the farm laws tooth and nail.

Hindustan Times

15-09-2021

Chandigarh