Farmers Movement Archive

BJP welcomes Amarinder Singh’s intervention in resolving ‘deadlock’ with protesting farmers

Following former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh’s announcement about his new political outfit, BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh on Wednesday said that Singh’s intervention in solving the ongoing deadlock with the protesting farmers was welcome. The BJP leader also hailed Singh’s efforts to resolve the farmers’ issues, who have been protesting at Delhi’s borders against the Union government’s three farm laws.“The Centre has been always open to talks with farmers and has welcomed any intervention to resolve the deadlock,” news agency PTI quoted Chugh as saying in a statement.Expressing his appreciation for Singh’s support to the extension of the Border Security Force’s jurisdiction in the state, Chugh said, “Amarinder Singh is [a] soldier and taking an appropriate stand on the issue of national security. We understand Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu's sympathy for Pakistan but it is tragic that he is not sensitive to the national security concerns of a border state.” Earlier, Singh had expressed his backing for the BJP government’s move to extend the jurisdiction of the forces, PTI reported.Also read | Punjab Congress chief Sidhu calls Capt Amarinder ‘spent cartridge’The remarks from the BJP general secretary came as Singh had earlier in the day confirmed that he is in the process of forming his own political party. “Yes, I will be forming a new party. The name will be announced once the Election Commission clears it, along with the symbol. My lawyers are working on it,” news agency ANI quoted the former CM as saying.Singh had already expressed his willingness to have an alliance with the BJP in the assembly polls slated for next year in the state, conditional that the farmers' issue was resolved. The BJP too had reciprocated that the party would wait for him to announce his party, however, said it was open to alliance with anyone who puts the nation’s interest first.Notably, he also said that he would meet with Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday to discuss the three contentious laws. “Tomorrow we are taking some people with us, around 25-30 people, and we will be meeting the Home Minister on this issue,” he said. The meeting would be the second between the two, with the first meeting that happened last month regarding the same issue.

Hindustan Times

27-10-2021

India