AAP actions not pro-farmer: CM

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 3

A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) walked out of the all-party meeting, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said the people of Punjab should not expect anything better from a party whose chief was, on record, touting the farm laws as the most revolutionary step in the agriculture sector in 70 years.

He said the act of walkout had not only shown the party in its true colours, but also bared their lie on Arvind Kejriwal’s video, which showed the Delhi CM narrating the benefits of the farm laws. Trashing AAP’s claim of the video being doctored, he said, “How can one believe them after their continued theatrics over the farm laws and the farmers’ agitation, including their walk-out from yesterday’s meeting?

Citing the alleged presence of AAP Punjab member Amrik Micky at the Red Fort during the violence of January 26, the Chief Minister said there was no doubt now that the party was hand in glove with the BJP in the conspiracy to destabilise and sabotage the farmers’ peaceful agitation.

“What have they done to help or support the farmers all these months?” Capt Amarinder asked, adding that the string of AAP actions in recent weeks clearly proved that their sympathies were not with the farmers but with the BJP and their crony capitalists. “Why else did the Kejriwal government in Delhi notify the implementation of one of the black farm laws in November last? Why else have they allowed the national capital’s roads to be dug up and the farmers’ protest sites barricaded like fortresses, instead of exercising their powers since the control of the city roads lies with the Delhi Government and not with the Centre?” asked the Chief Minister.

“It is ridiculous that a party which cannot stop its own property from being taken over in this shocking manner, in a state where it is in power, should walk out from a pro-farmer meeting in Punjab demanding that our police should go to their state, against all rules and laws,” Capt Amarinder said.

The Chief Minister also took a dig at Kejriwal for taking more than a week to release the list of farmers thrown into the Tihar jail.

Video doctored, delete it: Kejriwal

Reacting to a video being shared by CM Capt Amarinder Singh’s media adviser stating that the Delhi CM supports the central farm laws, AAP national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said the party would take legal action in this regard. “This is a doctored video… If Captain Amarinder does not withdraw this video immediately and apologise, I will take legal action against him,” he said.

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