CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab has termed the visits of Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal to the pink bollworm affected cotton belt “mere drama”. Such dramas were adding insult to the injury of the families of farmers forced to commit suicide in 2015 after whitefly attack, the party said.
AAP farmer wing state president Kultar Singh Sandhwan said, “Just as the bollworms are changing their appearance and damaging the crops, in the same way, the Congress, BJP and the Badals have done more harm to agriculture and farming than each other.”
The MLA alleged, “Had their intentions and policies been clear, Punjab would have been become California in real sense. But these political parties left no stone unturned to ruin Punjab. For the last three decades, the power of Punjab has been occupied by Congress and the Badals. Being the political son of a five-time chief minister, will Sukhbir Singh Badal reveal who is really responsible for the crisis of farmers and farming and what steps did he take during his rule?”
“Sukhbir was demanding compensation of Rs 1 lakh per acre today but he show the documentary records to tell how many farmers were compensated by his government in 2015? What was the punishment given to the culprits of the whitefly scam,” he asked.
Sandhwan said, on the one hand, Sukhbir Singh Badal was shedding crocodile tears in front of cotton farmers, but on the other side, he was rewarding Tota Singh and his son Barjinder Singh Makhan Brar, the masterminds whitefly pesticide scam with election tickets.
Sandhwan demanded 100% compensation from chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi for the loss of the cotton crop as a new crop cannot be sown now. “Today, Channi himself saw the damage due to pink bollworm infestation. Therefore, he ensure 100% compensation money is transferred in the bank account of each affected farmer,” he added.
