Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Sunday said the agitation against the three agriculture sector laws was “politically motivated” and those behind it were not the well-wisher of the farmers.
Mr. Lal added that the people of Haryana should talk to their brethren from Punjab holding demonstration at the Delhi-Haryana border about the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a “Jal Adhikar Rally” at Mahendragarh here on Sunday.
Mr. Lal reiterated that he would quit politics if there was any dilution of the Minimum Support Price scheme and added that the government was thinking beyond the MSP through the three farm laws. “The MSP scheme will never cease to exist. It will continue,” he said.
Mr. Lal said the SYL matter had been pending for decades, the BJP government petitioned before the Supreme Court for an early hearing after coming to power and a decision was made in Haryana’s favour.
He said that South Haryana faced acute water scarcity two decades ago, but the water supply in the region had improved over the past few years.
Mr. Lal said that his government had prepared a ₹2,000 crore project to recharge groundwater in the region.
The groundwater level had gone up by 10-15 feet in Rewari because of the efforts of his government, he claimed.
Referring to the farmers agitation, Haryana BJP chief Om Prakash Dhankar said those holding “red flags” sided with China in 1962 and the people should identify them. “Once they are identified, you can understand their motive behind the agitation,” said Mr. Dhankar.
‘PM with farmers’
He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi understood the pain of the poor farmers and had directly transferred ₹6,000 to their bank accounts.
Mr. Dhankar said that SYL canal was important for Haryana and it was the right of the people of the State. “It is the right opportunity to talk about our share of water through SYL canal. Those who don’t talk about SYL now are not well-wisher of farmers,” said Mr. Dhankar.
