Sukhbir's multiple u-turns on farm laws show lack of moral scruples, says Punjab CM

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], October 24 (ANI): Responding to the Shiromani Akali Dal's another "u-turn" on the farm laws, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday lashed out at SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal for repeatedly compromising the interests of the farmers with his "brazen lies and petty political games, which were clearly aimed at promoting the Centre's anti-farmer agenda".

The Chief Minister criticised the SAD for first openly voted for the state government's amendment bills, and then rejecting the same.

"In rejecting the state's amendment bills, which his party had backed in the Vidhan Sabha, Sukhbir had not just exposed his lack of moral scruples but had also echoed the recent statements of various Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders," said the Chief Minister. This showed a clear collusion between SAD and BJP, suggesting that the entire drama of Harsimrat's resignation from the Union Cabinet and the withdrawal of the Akalis from NDA was nothing but a total farce aimed at "befooling the farmers and sabotaging their fight against the central laws," he added.

"First you actively and wholeheartedly supported the Centre's malicious farm ordinances, then quit the NDA calling their bills anti-farmer, then indulged in a whole lot of political drama through protest rallies and yatras across the state in purported support of the farmers, then openly voted for the state government's amendment bills, and are now rejecting the same," the Chief Minister pointed out, citing the entire sequence of Akali actions over the past few months.

The spate of SAD about-turns on such a vital issue critical to Punjab and its farmers showed that they had absolutely no compulsions in signing a deal even with the devil if it could help protect their political interests, he said.

"After all this, do you really expect the farmers to believe in the sincerity of your trumped up claims of caring about the farmers' interests," Captain Amarinder asked Sukhbir, daring him to give one reason why the people of Punjab, especially the farmers, should trust SAD.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the SAD chief accused Captain Amarinder of 'playing a hoax on the farmers' of the state 'in league with the Central government' by passing agriculture bills in the state assembly and said the Chief Minister now trying to sell the fraud as an achievement.

"It was 'shameful' that even after Amarinder Singh's 'fraud had been discovered' and it had been proved that he had colluded with the Centre simply to get the 'rail roko' agitation of the farmer organizations lifted, he was trying to mislead Punjabis by trying to shift the blame of his own failures on others," Badal said in an official release issued by SAD.

Protests against the farm legislations have been witnessed in various parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

The Parliament has recently passed the three Bills which have come into effect from September 27 after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent.

The three acts are -- Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Service Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (ANI)