Ashu slams AAP over land pooling policy withdrawal; says farmers won’t forgive ‘sin’

Senior Congress leader and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said today that the AAP government in Punjab withdrew the controversial land pooling policy only because of pressure from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and not out of any sympathy for farmers.

Reacting to the withdrawal of the policy, Ashu said AAP leaders and ministers are now trying to save face by claiming they listened to the farmers’ demands. “The fact is that the AAP government wasn’t left with any option after the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the policy,” he noted.

He asked why it took so much time and high court orders for AAP to withdraw the policy if they were so sincere and supportive of farmers. Ashu also referred to the AAP government’s alleged misuse of the police and municipal corporation, as police and MC officials started threatening and intimidating landowners to give away their land under the land pooling policy.

The senior Congress leader said withdrawing the policy doesn’t mean farmers will forgive the AAP. “Their intention was quite clear: to snatch away 50,000 acres of land worth lakhs of crores of rupees from Punjabi farmers/landowners without their consent or any compensation,” he observed. He added it was the Punjab and Haryana High Court that saved the farmers.

Ashu said people in Punjab, particularly farmers, will never forgive AAP for this “sin”. “AAP will meet the same fate as BJP after the three farm laws,” he noted. He pointed out that “even after BJP withdrew the laws and Prime Minister Modi apologised to farmers, they didn’t forgive BJP”. Similarly, he added, farmers will never forgive AAP, and it’s destined to meet BJP’s fate in Punjab.