Khaira leads AAP protest, calls waiver farce

Tribune News Service

Mansa, January 7

Workers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira and six party MLAs staged a protest in the town today. These leaders were taken into preventive custody by the police when they were trying to reach the venue of the state-level function to lodge their protest, holding black flags. They were let off after a couple of hours.

Earlier addressing the protesters, Khaira said the event was “nothing but a mere drama”. He alleged that a huge amount of money was spent on the use of chopper, roping in a noted singer and other arrangements during the event. He alleged that a majority of the beneficiaries of the scheme were pro-Congress.

He alleged that the government was making a mockery of the farmers as the list issued by it also featured a farmer with a debt of mere Rs 7. He blamed CM Capt Amarinder Singh and former CM Parkash Singh Badal for rising farm suicides in the state. AAP MLAs Aman Arora and Nazar Singh Manshahia alleged that the government was running away from its promise of a complete debt waiver.

Allegedly left out of the state government’s farm debt waiver scheme, scores of farmers under the banner of BKU (Ugrahan) too took out a protest march in the town today. They tried to march towards the venue, but were stopped by the police.

Addressing the protesters, district BKU (Ugrahan) president Ram Singh Bhaini Bhaga said the Congress had promised a complete debt waiver to the farmers prior to the elections, but it had restricted itself to the debt of cooperative societies and in that also a “large number of farmers have been left out”.

He accused the CM of going back on his word. “The government says that it is waiving debt of 47,000 farmers worth Rs 167 crore of five districts. Almost 67 per cent of the farmers have been deprived of the benefits,” he alleged.

The farmer leaders accused Congress leaders of extending the benefit of the scheme to their near and dear ones. They gave a call to the farmers and farm labourers to come out and support their agitation outside DC offices across the state from January 22 to 26.

It’s betrayal: Akali MP

Anandpur Sahib: Akali Dal spokesman and local MP Prem Singh Chandumajra on Sunday alleged that the state government had betrayed the farming community by waiving a mere Rs 167 crore of 47,000 farmers of five districts against its promise of taking over the entire Rs 90,000 crore farm debt. Chandumajra, who was here to attend the culmination of yatra by Kashimir Pandits to pay tributes to Guru Tegh Bahadur, said there should be provision in the law to penalise such governments who backtracked on their promises made during the election campaign. tns