Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal once again on Saturday attacked each other over the Centre’s farm laws.
While Capt. Amarinder said the SAD chief has “lost political narrative” over the issue, Mr. Badal alleged that the State Bills passed against the farm laws aimed at sabotaging the farmers’ stir.
According to a statement, Capt. Amarinder said Mr. Badal seemed to have been jolted into desperation by the entire farm laws saga, which had exposed the double standards of the Akalis.
Reacting to Mr. Badal’s statement, accusing the CM of colluding with the Centre to get the rail blockade by farmers lifted, Capt. Amarinder said that strange and senseless remarks showed the Akali leader had completely lost the political narrative, causing him to fumble for words and desperate to find a way out.
On the Akali chief’s suggestion that the State government should have taken the SAD’s advice before bringing the Bills in the Assembly, the CM said, “It seems the NDA government at the Centre has taken the advice of their then allies, the Akalis, in the matter of the anti-farmer, anti-federal and anti-Constitutional farm laws.”
“That would explain why they messed it up so badly and took the unilateral decision to impose laws that are clearly designed to ruin farmers,” he added.
“Does Sukhbir really believe that I would lead my party to a political suicide with such an act?” asked Capt. Amarinder.
Meanwhile, Mr. Badal accused the Chief Minister of not taking his party’s suggestion and said he instead chose to enter into a deal with the Centre and get ‘wishy-washy’ Bills passed with the sole intention of sabotaging the farmers’ agitation. He said the only solution was declaring the entire State as a principal market yard which would have negated the implementation of the Central farm laws in Punjab. He asked the CM if he had annulled the Central agriculture marketing laws and when the new Bills passed in the Vidhan Sabha would come into being.
The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday had adopted a resolution rejecting the Centre’s new farm laws and passed four bills to counter the Centre’s farm laws.
