With the continued suspension of goods trains to Punjab, political parties were engaged in verbal spat surrounding the issue, a day after Chief Minister Amarinder Singh urged BJP national president J.P. Nadda for collective will and statesmanship to resolve the situation.
All Cabinet Ministers of the Congress government on Monday hit out at the BJP, accusing the State BJP leadership of misleading farmers after being cornered on the draconian farm laws.
Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma had accused the Chief Minister of “instigating farmers by misinforming them to gain political mileage”.
The Punjab Ministers, in a joint statement, said, “not only was the BJP in Punjab trying desperately to fool the farmers with regard to the agricultural laws of the Central government but their leaders and workers were actively indulging in brazen falsehoods in a bid to exploit the sensitive issue to promote their political interests.”
‘Farmers hurt’
“The farmers don’t need any instigation. They are hurt at the treatment meted out to them by the BJP-led Central government. They are fighting to save their livelihood. But clearly, Mr. Sharma, like other BJP leaders, has no realisation of this,” added the Ministers.
The Ministers also dismissed the allegation that the Congress government was responsible for the continued farmer protests and suspension of goods trains. Pointing out that the security and safety of trains was the responsibility of the Railway Protection Force, with the State government having no say in the matter, the Ministers asked what the State government had to do with the safe movement of trains.
AAP’s charge
However, the Opposition Aam Aadmi Party accused the Chief Minister of indulging in theatrics. Leader of the Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema said Capt. Singh’s letter to Mr. Nadda was nothing more than mere theatrics with a ploy to mislead the people of Punjab, especially the struggling farmers.
“Until and unless the farmers of the State get a legal guarantee to procure all their crops at MSP, the interest of the farmers could not be safeguarded. The State government should guarantee to the farmers to purchase the crop at the MSP on all crops, including wheat and paddy,” said Mr. Cheema.
