Amarinder Singh The issues over the three farm laws, which have led to protests by farmers from several north Indian states for over a year now, must be resolved to get things back to normal in Punjab, and villagers in the state will not allow political parties to campaign for next year’s Assembly polls if these laws were not repealed, former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said on Tuesday.
In an Idea Exchange with The Indian Express, Singh, who has floated a new political party after resigning from the Congress, said, “If you cannot have a solution [to farm issues and the three laws], none of us will be able to go [for campaign] because farmers won’t allow you to enter villages.”
Singh also said he suspects that the farm agitation could provide a platform to anti-national elements.
“I have the gut feeling that the Government of India must respond and end this farm crisis.. Why are these weapons coming (in)? Punjab is peaceful and has no [militant] recruits…where will they get recruits from…from a movement.” Therefore, he said, “I am saying, please finish this [issue] and also take care of drones [coming from Pakistani side].”
Singh said pro-Khalistani outfits had been arranging to smuggle consignment to the Indian side.
On the ‘group of 23’ Congress leaders who have raised concern on the party’s functioning, Singh said although he is no longer in the party, he feels leaders such as Manish Tewari, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Shahshi Tharoor and Kapil Sibal, who were part of this group of leaders, should have been heard. “These people are assets of the Congress party, he said. “Why are they being pushed away?”
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
