Why Punjab govt has detained farmer leaders, explains Aman Arora

Punjab AAP president Aman Arora has said that they cannot allow anyone to arm-twist the government and inconvenience the public.

The New and Renewable Energy Minister was speaking to The Tribune in an exclusive interview.

As the ruling party in the state showed its resolve to deal with the striking revenue officials and stop the proposed protest by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) from Wednesday by detaining around 350 of their leaders, Arora said the state government tried to engage with both groups and find a solution, but they thought they could browbeat the government. This would not be tolerated, he added.

“We were willing to accept the just demands of the SKM. CM Bhagwant Mann told them that since we are engaging in dialogue, they should call off their protest. But they refused. Should we allow them to bring the state to a complete halt? The government had to detain the leaders, who are now hurting the economic interests of the state, to prevent them from laying siege to Chandigarh,” he said.

Arora denied the allegations made by some SKM leaders that the AAP government was soft on the SKM (Non Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, but biased against the SKM.

“Their fight is not against us, it is now for one-upmanship among themselves,” he said.

The AAP state chief said the move to issue a warning to revenue officials and suspend 14 of them was taken in the interest of the state. “How can they support the corrupt officers and ask us to condone them? The AAP government has zero tolerance for corruption,” he said.

When asked why the government was not acting against the officers involved in corruption and against their own party MLA against whom charges of accepting bribes were made, Arora said there is a process involved in everything. “We will not spare our own too. Once established that someone was involved in corruption, action will be initiated,” he said.

Arora said their ‘War on Drugs’ campaign was receiving good support.