Punjab AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang breaks ranks, asks party to win trust of farmers first

As farmers and the Opposition in Punjab are preparing for a fight against the state's land pooling policy, ruling AAP's Anandpur Sahib MP Malvinder Singh Kang on Sunday became the first party leader to speak up against the policy.

Kang, who till recently was also the chief spokesperson of the Punjab unit of the AAP, took to social media and urged party leaders to “earn the trust of farmers” on this policy.

"The objections raised by farmer unions on the land pooling policy must, in my view, be heard with empathy and addressed through a meaningful dialogue. In the last three years, our government has ensured uninterrupted agri-power, pushed canal water to every field, fast-tracked mandi reforms and promoted crop diversification. On this, too, trust must be earned — not assumed — before any policy takes root," he wrote on X, while tagging his party.

Though Kang did not respond to calls, his statement is significant considering that tensions are simmering in the state over the rollout of the policy, under which the government proposes to acquire 65,533 acres of farmland for urbanisation.

Though privately many party leaders, including MLAs, especially those from rural areas, have reservations about the policy, no one, till tonight, has spoken openly against it or even asked the party top brass to reconsider the policy. According to leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, as many as 107 village panchayats have already passed resolutions against giving away their land for acquisition through land pooling.

Many in villages are already drawing parallels between the policy and the three farm laws passed by the Centre in 2020, which led to a year-long protest at the borders of Delhi, till the laws were rolled back.

While the Opposition parties have held protests across the state against the policy, which they claim will lead to the loss of livelihoods and displacement of farmers, these parties —Congress, BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal and Left — have all promised to back the Samyukt Kisan Morcha's tractor rally on Wednesday, in villages where land is proposed to be acquired through land pooling.