Sukhbir Badal asks CM to accompany him along with farmer organizations to take blanket assurance on MSP
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal asked chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, to accompany him along with farmer organizations to take a blanket assurance on MSP and assured marketing from the centre.
The SAD President told the chief minister “your repeated lies about the end of the MSP regime have already been exposed by the central government. The centre has already announced that MSP and assured marketing will remain in force in their present form. However, since you are choosing to disbelieve this assurance you should also accompany me along with farmer organizations to get a blanket assurance on this issue from the Union Agriculture minister”.
Stating that it was doubtful that Capt Amarinder Singh would accept his offer, Sukhbir Badal said it was apparent that the former wanted to continue with the malicious propaganda on this issue to divert the attention of the people from the utter failures of his government.
“The bogey of the end of the MSP regime and assured marketing has also been raised deliberately to mislead the farming community and inflame passions against the SAD in league with AAP. This is a well thought out strategy and AAP is also playing along as both parties feel they must unite against the SAD”.
The SAD president said farmers would not be fooled by this propaganda. He said the chief minister had passed the provisions of the Central Agricultural Ordinance against which he was protesting now three years back. “I challenge Capt Amarinder to deny this”. He also challenged Capt Amarinder Singh to prove his farmer credentials.
He said Capt Amarinder had re-imposed power cess on agricultural tubewells during his last government and even tried to do so this time before backing down following a protest from the SAD. He said the chief minister must know that the free power facility was extended to farmers in Punjab by the former chief minister S Parkash Singh Badal. He said this facility alone benefitted an individual farmer by Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh per year.
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Asking the chief minister to walk the talk, Mr Sukhbir Badal said Capt Amarinder Singh should first take some pro-farmer decision before talking about protecting the rights of farmers. “Even in your last government you promised farmers a bonus of Rs 30 per quintal on food grains but gave a bonus of only Rs 10. Such is your track record on farmer issues”.
-PTC News
