Food and Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu at Vidhan Sabha. (Photo: Jasbir Malhi) Commenting on the statement made by Punjab Cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu regarding implementation of new Union Agriculture Act in Punjab, the AAP has called this the “double standards” of Captain-led state government towards farmers.
Ashu had stated at a press conference Monday that the Amarinder government had allowed farmers from other states to sell produce in Punjab.
In a statement issued from the party headquarters, AAP Punjab president and MP Bhagwant Mann said that the statement made by Congress Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu proved that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government and Captain Amarinder’s state government were hand in glove on agriculture laws.
He said that on the one hand, the Congress government was becoming pro-farmer by opposing the laws in Punjab through various ‘dramas’ and on the other hand, was quietly enforcing the anti-farmers black laws. Mann said that the people of Punjab already suspected that Amarinder had met PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, but now it was proved.
“The CM had met the farmers and promised not to implement the three black laws in Punjab, but the Captain had once again betrayed the farmers. Following in the footsteps of Parkash Singh Badal, Capt Amarinder Singh has sold the interest of Punjab to the Centre due to infatuation for his son,” he added.
Mann said that in a bid to save his son Raninder from ED cases, Captain Amarinder in collusion with Amit Shah was cheating the farmers of Punjab. He said that on the one hand, the farmers of Punjab were fighting against the three anti-farmers black laws to save their livelihood and were getting martyred daily, and on the other hand, the Congress ministers and officials of the Captain government were praising these laws, stating that it was only under the new laws that more paddy was procured in Punjab.
“The lie of Captain government that the crop from outside states will not be allowed to be sold in Punjab has also been exposed as his own minister has stated that due to these laws, the crop coming from other regions was not stopped. Capt Amarinder should publicly apologise to the people of Punjab for lying to them,” Mann said.
He appealed to the struggling farmers and the people of Punjab to beware of the duplicitous Captain-led Congress government, along with Akali Dal and BJP, as these parties could go to any lengths to ‘torpedo’ the farmers’ movement.