Punjab Cong chief attacks AAP's Chadha for 'spreading canards'

Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar on Wednesday accused the AAP of “spreading canards” against the ruling party over the Punjab Contract Farming Act 2013, claiming it was the opposition SAD led by Parkash Singh Badal which had passed the law in “collusion” with the BJP.

Jakhar was reacting to a recent accusation levelled by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha who had alleged that the Congress did not oppose the law when it was tabled in the assembly in 2013 by the SAD-BJP government.

Chadha had made an accusation after Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in Parliament on February 5 had stated that as per provisions of the Punjab Contract farming law, a farmer could face jail or fine for violation of agreement.

Addressing the media here, Jakhar said the SAD-BJP government had introduced Punjab Contract farming law in the Vidhan Sabha after suspending nine Congress legislators to “throttle their voice against these draconian measures”. Jakhar also showed the video clips of some proceedings of the 2013 assembly session in the media here. The Punjab Congress chief asked Chadha to seek apology for levelling false accusations against the Congress. Jakhar also slammed Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal for not attending Budget Session of Parliament for raising the farmers' issues.

He said Sukhbir chose to campaign for upcoming municipal polls over going to Parliament, saying it shows Ferozepur MP's “misplaced priorities”. “Watching his political base slipping away, the SAD president is busy protecting his own turf rather than protecting the interests of the farmers he espouses so brazenly,” Jakhar said. The PPCC president also dared Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma for an open debate on the three “anti-farmer” agriculture laws. Referring to an incident of an attack on Sharma in Ferozepur, Jakhar appealed to people not to indulge in any violence and hold their protests peacefully. Sharma's vehicle was allegedly attacked by some unidentified people in Ferozepur where he had gone there for a meeting with local party workers.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)