NEW DELHI: Hitting out at Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said no politics should be done over the stir by farmers against the three farm laws passed by the Centre. Kejriwal termed the claims of the Punjab CM that the farm laws had been notified by Delhi government false and part of “dirty politics”.
Kejriwal said, “Yesterday, the Punjab CM made the false allegations against me that we had notified the three farm acts in Delhi. These three laws were passed by the Centre. The moment the President signs them, they start getting implemented in all states. No state has the power to stop their implementation. If it had depended on the states, why would the farmers have come to Delhi and put their demands forward to the central government?”
“The entire country is witnessing the struggle and plight of the farmers and how they are sleeping on the road in such harsh weather. No patriot can sleep peacefully after witnessing all this. This is not only the fight of farmers, but everyone. We all must support our farmers,” added the CM.
Claiming that the Centre was upset with Delhi government over its refusal to convert nine stadiums into temporary jails, Kejriwal said, “They had a foolproof plan of putting the farmers into these jails as soon as they reached Delhi. Our refusal upset them. I was being pressured into converting the stadiums into jails and got calls from several people regarding it. But in life there are some moments when you have to listen to your conscience without caring about the results.”
Wondering if the Punjab CM was talking on behalf of BJP, Kejriwal stressed that the former had got many chances to stop these farm laws. “Two years ago, BJP had formed a committee to formulate and examine the bills and Captain Amarinder Singh was one of the members. The people of Punjab are asking why he didn’t stop the bills by raising objections. Why didn’t you intimate people about how the central government was trying to bring in these black laws?” asked the CM.
“The protesting farmers have gathered at various borders of Delhi. We all have to decide whether we are with the farmers or with those who are calling the farmers terrorists. I want to appeal to the people of the country to stand with the farmers,” Kejriwal said, while imploring the central government to accept all the demands of the farmers and provide a legal guarantee of minimum support price for crops.