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Vishal Joshi
Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, November 15
Bhartiya Kisan Union (Haryana) president Gurnam Singh Charuni has been charged with accepting Rs 1 lakh as bribe from the management of a private sugar mill.
Presidents of two parallel factions of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) led by Rattan Mann and Guni Prakash have alleged that Charuni has taken the money to compromise interests of sugarcane growers.
Speaking to The Tribune on Thursday, Charuni admitted that he had accepted the money, but only to expose the sugar mill management, which was trying to weaken the farmers’ agitation.
“I certainly erred in my failure to inform the police or record the incident of payment. I am a strong votary of farmers’ interests, but leaders of parallel unions are indulging in mudslinging,” he said.
He said the amount in question was in the account of the BKU. He said the money had been accepted only to prove the ill-intentions of the mill management. He said a delegation would meet the Kurukshetra SP for action against the mill authorities for giving bribe.
In September, the BKU (Haryana)-supported Ganna Sangharsh Samiti had started a dharna outside a private sugar mill located in Karnal district.
“The agitation was started as the mill had dues of Rs 11 crore towards several sugarcane growers in the region. The agitation ended on September 29 after the mill management agreed to clear dues at the earliest,” said the farmer rights leader.
He claimed that a senior functionary gave him the cash at Barara Chowk in Shahabad on October 9. “That day. I was scheduled to meet senior Congress leaders, who were preparing a draft of the welfare demands of farmers,” he said.
“After the mill official handed over the cash to me in Shahabad, I immediately gave the money to senior BKU leader Karam Singh. The cash was deposited into the BKU account,” he added.
Charuni said a farmers’ meeting was held in Karnal’s Bhadson village on Thursday, in which participants condemned Mann and Prakash for making irresponsible statements about him on social media.
Mann said Charuni had committed a crime and done irreparable damage to the farming community by accepting the money. He asked Charuni why he had kept quiet for over a month after accepting the cash.
“After gathering more details on the alleged bribery episode, we will approach the district authorities for appropriate action against the culprits,” he said.
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