Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Ajnala/Jandiala Guru/ Amritsar, April 23: The Punjab Congress Legislature Party chief Mr Charanjit Singh Channi today said that the Punjab congress will start agitation in all the Dana Mandis of Punjab if the dues of the farmers are not cleared by Tuesday. Punjab congress will start statewide gherao of all the ministers of SAD-BJP government. This deaf and dumb government is playing with the sentiments of the farmers. Chief Minister is just issuing statements of payments being released to the farmers but the reality on the ground is totally different. There has not been single penny given to any farmer till today. Channi today visited the Dana Mandis in Ajnala and Jandial Guru alongwith the senior congress leaders and workers.
Blaming squarely the Chief Minister for this mess, S Channi said that farmers in the state have always faced harassment under the Akali Dal government headed by the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal who otherwise claims himself to be their champion. “This is part of the record beginning with second term of Mr Badal as the Chief Minister beginning 1977. The farmers have blocked roads with their produce in protest during his regime. In the latest case, they have been waiting endlessly to get their payments for their produce procured by the government agencies. It is Badal whose policies, or the lack of the same, have resulted in increasing incidence of suicides by the farmers in this once the most advanced agricultural state in the country”, he said.
Mr Channi said Mr Badal’s one point agenda has been to blame the centre for all the troubles confronting the state but his problem now was that his own daughter-in-law was a minister in the Narendra Modi government and as such, he himself has to bear the brunt. His biggest problem was that Punjab has never faced such a worst treatment from the centre as during the Modi government. He pointed out that the release of cash credit limit used to be a routine affair before the beginning of every procurement season but not since Mr Modi took over as the Prime Minister.
Challenging Aam Aadmi Party to spell out its farm policies rather than showing mirage to the people as Mr Badal used to do to get votes Channi asserted that AAP had no specific agenda for Punjab and the effort has been to cash upon emotions of the people that the Akali Dal has been doing for years. He cautioned the people against being misled by the opportunistic and visionless AAP leaders who have no commitment to the people or Punjab and are nothing more than just rank careerists.
