CM Mann acted at behest of BJP, alleges Cong

Congress Lok Sabha members from Punjab on Thursday protested in the Parliament complex against the police crackdown on farmers and accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of working in cahoots with the Centre’s ruling BJP to end their over a year-long stir.

Advertisement

Congress MPs Sukhjinder Randhawa, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Gurjit Aujla and Dharamvira Gandhi protested outside the Makar Dwar of Parliament and raised slogans against the BJP and the state’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, met the protesting lawmakers outside the Parliament building. The Congress leader demanded the release of detained farm leaders at the earliest. Meanwhile, in Punjab, Congress leader and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira termed the crackdown on farmers an “act of political oppression”. “It is utterly disgraceful that instead of addressing the real issues faced by Punjab’s farmers such as minimum support price for crops, rising debt, and exploitation by corporate giants, the AAP government has chosen to crush the democratic right to protest through brute force,”he said.

Farmers used for political mileage, says Jakhar

Chandigarh: Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar slammed the Congress and ruling AAP for “using farmers for their political interests”.

Addressing reporters here, Jakhar alleged that the protest was “instigated” by AAP. He also questioned the detention of fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, months after the government submitted before the Supreme Court the potential dangers of such an action.

“How is it that the same government cleared the protest site in just 20 minutes yesterday? This was only possible through a careful planning by the state government,” Jakhar remarked.

He also dared the Congress to clear its stance on the farmers’ demand for a minimum support price for crops.

“The Congress did not support it when their own legislator Rana Gurjeet Singh proposed it for all sugarcane farmers in the state,” he said.

Stand with protesters, Sukhbir tells SAD workers

Muktsar: Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Badal appealed to party workers to support farmers. “It is for the first time the history that farmer leaders were called for talks by the state and Centre and then cane charged and arrested. The AAP government has also gone back on its commitment to engage with farmers to find a resolution to their grievances,” he said.