Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, May 26: The Punjab Congress President Mr Partap Singh Bajwa today described the suicide by a poor family resulting in the death of husband and wife on the issue of land acquisition as a blot on the face of the Parkash Singh Badal government.
“Nothing can be more shocking than a labourer Satgur Singh and his wife and young daughter committing suicide following the eviction order issued to the family by the land acquisition officer as the land on which their small house stood at Mehal Kalan near Sunam was being acquired for the widening of the road. The irony is that you have been touting Punjab’s land acquisition legislation as a model one and the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has been defending the dilution of 2013 land acquisition legislation as being in the interest of the farmers. Both of you need to explain to the people as to how come then that the poor family was forced to commit suicide”, he asked Mr Badal.
Mr Bajwa said this unfortunate incident had shattered the myth being propagated by the Modi government that the amended land acquisition legislation was in the interest of land owners and it was the Akali Dal that had extended unqualified support to this amendment bill in the Lok Sabha.
He also took Mr Badal to task for showering praise on Mr Modi and asked the Chief Minister to give the example of even one good thing that had been done by the government at the centre to Punjab except inducting his daughter-in-law Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal as the Food Processing Minister.
He said Mr Modi had let down Punjab on every issue and still Mr Badal was unabashedly going out of the way to praise Mr Modi. He said he did not want to remind Mr Badal of the truck load of money that was to come to Punjab from the centre with Mr Modi taking over as the Prime Minister. What to talk of special assistance, the Modi government had cut even the normal assistance that the state was getting during the UPA government. He recalled that then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh never rejected any demand raised by Mr Badal. However, here was a Prime Minister who was not giving even appointment to Mr Badal, what to talk of coming to the rescue to this beleaguered state.
He called upon Mr Badal to apologise for the suicide committed by the couple and extend all possible assistance to the daughter who had survived.
