Opposition misguiding farmers, says Shwait Malik

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 16

Amid farmers’ protest, senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Shwait Malik tried to justify the newly enacted farm Acts during the party’s awareness drive on the issue.

Addressing a press conference here, Malik emphasised that there was room for improvement and the BJP-led NDA government was ready to introduce amendments to the laws as sought by the farmers.

“As was the case of the GST, teething problems can be rectified. The dialogue between the ministers and farm unions is underway and a viable solution can be found. The Centre is ready to give a written assurance regarding the procurement system and the MSP. Similarly, the option of going to a civil court can also be offered,” he said.

On the other hand, launching a scathing attack on party’s estranged partner — SAD — and the Congress, he alleged that opposition parties had been misguiding the farming community to gain political mileage.

Questioning SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s “double standards”, Malik said, “Was he and his wife, the then Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, not part of the panel when the farm laws were being formulated? Didn’t they issue statements in favour of farm laws initially and what prompted them to take a total U-turn could be anybody’s guess? They did it for their political convenience,” he said.

Malik said the farm laws enacted recently were not ‘new’ but an ‘amended version’ of what was proposed during the Congress regime at the Centre. “The difference was that the Congress did not implement them whereas PM Narendra Modi took the initiative of introducing the amendments and implemented them keeping in view the betterment of farmers,” he said.

BJP to contest all 117 seats: Tarun Chugh

• The BJP is expanding base in Punjab and ever since the farmers’ agitation, over 3,000 persons from other parties have joined it, party general secretary Tarun Chugh said on Wednesday
• He said the BJP had been contesting elections since 1952. “Even in 1992 when it contested without an alliance with any other party, it polled 16.7% votes and won 23 Assembly seats. The BJP is a firmly rooted party in Punjab,” he said
• On Sukhbir calling the BJP a ‘tukde tukde’ gang, Chugh said all Punjabis should wake up to the nefarious designs of Sukhbir. “BJP has always stood for Hindu-Sikh unity in Punjab and tried to foster the brotherhood whenever there were strains of stress,” he added