BJP leader, 2 others booked for farmer’s death
Chandigarh, October 10: People’s Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal today said rather than opting for dialogue across the table, the ruling Akali leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal were insulting the agitating farmers who are feeding the nation but were now feeling insulted and humiliated.
In this context, he also referred to the statement of Panchayats and Development Minister Sikander Singh Maluka who is reported to have said the agitators were not farmers but instruments in the hands of some political interest groups. Earlier, three party leaders including Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Balwinder Singh Bhinder and Prem Singh Chandumajra had attacked the farmers who have been forced by the situation to resort to agitation.
“Earlier, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal gave clean chit to Agriculture Minister Tota Singh without waiting for the results of inquiry which otherwise should have been judicial or by the CBI. Now Sukhbir and his colleagues are sprinkling salt on the wounds of those whose crops have been ruined due to calamity which is partly man made for which it is the Badal government which is directly responsible in view of the nexus between the rulers and the dealers of farm inputs who sold spurious pesticides and sub-standard cotton seed leading to the ruination in the cotton belt”, he added.
Manpreet said the Badal government was directly responsible for the farmers committing suicides every day in the state, especially in the cotton belt. The compensation announced by the state government had failed to stop this trend as the losses were too high and the farmers not in a position to cultivate next crop without appropriate financial assistance.
He said the state government could not escape from its responsibility by diverting the issue towards the centre and moreover, the Narendra Modi government’s indifferent attitude towards Punjab was too well known and as such, nothing could be expected from Delhi.
He said although cenre was indifferent, the Chief Minister should lead an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for special package especially for the farm sector. Other issues should be resolved by him through a dialogue across the table with the leaders of the agitating farmers.
