Scrap decision to acquire 24,311 acres for urban estates: Sukhbir
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal today demanded the immediate review and scrapping of the decision to acquire 24,311 acres across 32 villages in Ludhiana in the name of developing new urban estates, stating that the move was anti-farmer and was aimed solely at filling the coffers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
In a statement issued here, the SAD president said, “It is shocking that the AAP government has passed a proposal to acquire 24,311 acres in the vicinity of the city to develop urban estates, a scheme which has failed earlier in many other parts of the state. It is even more condemnable that this decision has been taken without consulting or taking the consent of farmers, whose lands will be snatched from them. Thousands of farmers will be rendered landless and this will affect their life irreversibly.”
Sukhbir said, “There is more than meets the eye. The AAP government is desperate to collect money to fund its publicity schemes. Earlier also, the government had taken a decision to acquire land near Mohali with the same purpose. Now, the farmers of Ludhiana are being sacrificed to fulfil Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s desire to fill the coffers of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, so that he can continue in his chair.”
Asserting that SAD would not allow this injustice to prevail, Badal said, “We will support the affected farmers as well as farm organisations to oppose this move and will force the AAP government to reverse this decision.” Telling the Chief Minister that he should not go about selling Punjab, he said, “Farm land is being given away without any need. It is clear that the AAP has taken on the role of an unscrupulous property developer.”
