Says Cong govt committed breach of faith by manipulating the press release to show the SAD had supported the resolutions moved by it
Says CM had no answer when asked to clarify why his govt had passed all the provisions of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce ordinance by amending the APMC Act in 2017 if they were anti-farmer
Chandigarh, June 25, 2020: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today castigated chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and the Congress government for trying to deceive farmers by issuing a false and misleading press statement about the All Party meeting held yesterday.
Terming the statement released by the State government yesterday on the All Party meeting as a breach of faith, the SAD President said the release had been manipulated to show that the SAD had supported the resolutions moved by the government. “This is furthest from the truth. The Congress was supported by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which spoke its language and acted as its rubber stamp. Few other political leaders also displayed their close ties with the Congress party on the occasion”.
Mr Badal also played the recording of his entire speech during the All Party meeting to make his stance public and make the people know how he had exposed the Congress party on the occasion. He also separately wrote a letter to the chief minister deriding the manner in which the Congress party had tried to mislead farmers and misquote him.
The SAD President said there was no discussion on merit about the central Ordinances on agriculture at the All Party meeting. He said he had made it clear that there was no mention of ending MSP or assured marketing in any of the Ordinances. Similarly Mr Badal said he had pointed out that the Ordinances did not contain anything against federalism and that the SAD had a long record of sacrifices on this account. “I assured at the All Party meeting that msp and assured marketing will not end. We as a party even said we are ready to get a written assurance on this account from the Agriculture minister and would get an assurance from parliament also when the Ordinances were tabled there. We even agreed to accompany a delegation to the Prime Minister to clarify doubts if any. However this was misinterpreted by the government in its press release by stating that the SAD would accompany a delegation of representatives of all political parties led by the chief minister to get the central Ordinances withdrawn”.
Mr Badal told newsmen that he had also asked chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to clarify if his government had passed all the provisions listed in the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce ordinance in August, 2017 when it amended the State APMC Act. He said the Congress government had allowed establishment of private yards, direct marketing, e trading and need for only one license in the entire State. “These provisions have been incorporated in the central Ordinance now. I only asked the chief minister to clarify that if the provisions were anti-farmer he should tell why his government had approved them while amending its APMC Act. It is clear from the recording that the chief minister did not deny this assertion. Neither did Pradesh Congress President Sunil Jakhar”.
Mr Badal also made it clear that the SAD was behind introduction of the msp system for purchase of food grains. He said this was done during the tenure of chief minister Gurnam Singh in 1967 who got this introduced through the Union government.
Meanwhile when questioned, Mr Badal said the SAD would write a letter to the Prime Minister and urge that the taxes levied by the Union government be reduced to bring down the prices of petrol and diesel. He said the Punjab government should also reduce the State VAT quotient on fuel prices which was very high.
The SAD President was accompanied by senior leaders Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema and YAD President Parambans Singh Romana.