Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, February 23: The former Punjab Congress president Mr Partap Singh Bajwa today called upon the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal to break his party’s alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in case he was so helpless in getting special package for farmers from his own Narendra Modi government.
Reacting strongly to his alibi of ball being in centre’s court on the issue of coming to the rescue of the distressed farmers, he said the Chief Minister could not pass the buck as earlier, he used to blame the Congress for being anti-farmer despite the fact that the UPA government had done the maximum for the farmers and the farm sector. “The problem with Mr Badal is that he is too timid to own responsibility for all that is going wrong under his leadership and he is always on the lookout for scapegoats. Earlier he used to attack the UPA government but now he can’t slam his own government at the centre and hence expressing his helplessness”, he added.
The former state Congress chief said rather than blaming the indifferent attitude of the Modi government towards Punjab, he should come out of the alliance with the BJP and as a first step, he should withdraw his daughter-in-law and the Food Processing Minister Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Modi government to indicate that he was really concerned about the farmers.
Mr Bajwa demanded that the loans of the farmers should be waived as one time settlement, including from the arhtiyas followed by steps as long term solution. He said farming must be made profitable and members from the families of small and marginal farmers should be provided alternative sources of employment.
He blamed Mr Badal for not promising assured market for alternative cash crops to encourage diversification. At the same time, he proposed that the state government should provide infrastructure for value addition to make farming profitable.
He expressed surprise that Mr Badal had tried to wriggle out of the situation at the time when the incidence of suicides by the farmers is highest ever.
