Farmers burn AAP Balluana MLA Amandeep Singh Goldy Musafir’s effigy

Our Correspondent

Abohar, March 17

After a verbal spat that took place between Balluana MLA Amandeep Singh Goldy Musafir of the AAP and farmer leaders during a programme at Wahabwala village, farmers today burnt an effigy of the MLA at the Rajpura barrier on the Punjab-Rajasthan border. They raised slogans against the MLA and state government.

A video regarding the incident has also gone viral.

Kirti Kisan Union leader Vinod Bhagsar said the Irrigation Department had closed the canals from March 16 to April 15 for relining of the Sirhind feeder canal, due to which crops and fruit plants in the orchards and fields would get affected. Protesting the closure, various farmer organisations, including the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-political) are staging a dharna near the Rajpura barrier on the Abohar-Hanumangarh stretch of the state highway for the past three days, demanding postponement of the closure.

He said when the MLA was addressing a programme at Wahabwala village yesterday, Balluana convener Nirmal Singh of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur) and Sona Sandhu of BKU (Khosa) along with Baldev Singh reached the venue and urged the MLA to get the canal closure postponed. But the MLA alleged that the farmer unions were making illegal extortions from the people and added that farmers stage dharna wherever they want. On this, an altercation started between the farmer leaders and the MLA. As the proceedings were being recorded on video, the same went viral also.

Farmer leaders said the MLA was misleading the people by giving false statements that the canal system would not be closed even when the department had enforced the closure from yesterday. BKU leaders said Sukhchain Minor canal, which provides irrigation and drinking water to more than 12 villages, had remained closed since January 22. They said on Friday, when the farmers wanted to talk to him about their problems, the MLA made illegitimate allegations against the farmers’ organisations. This led to resentment among farmers. Following this, the BKU has now decided to organise protests against the MLA in all villages of Balluana constituency, Bhagsar added.

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