SAD rejects Punjab farm Bills

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 22

Making a U-turn, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today rejected the Bills passed by the Punjab Assembly to block the Centre’s farm laws, claiming that the legislators had been misled. The Akali MLAs had supported the Bills in the House and were part of the CM-led delegation that handed these over to the Governor.

The SAD had initially backed the Centre’s farm ordinances, but later snapped ties with the BJP, saying the government had reneged on its promise to include the amendments suggested by it in the final draft.

Addressing the media after the party’s core committee meeting here, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal alleged that Capt Amarinder Singh had misled the Opposition while reading out a resolution that the Bills brought by his government “rejected” the Central laws. “Copies of the Bills were provided to the legislators just before the Bills were tabled in the Assembly. They had no time to read these carefully. We have now rejected the Bills after going through the details,” he said, adding that if voted to power, SAD would block the Centre’s “anti-farmer” laws by declaring Punjab as Principal Market Area and repealing the APMC Act enacted by the Amarinder government. “The resolution, unanimously passed by the Vidhan Sabha, had outrightly rejected the Centre’s farm laws.

It stated that the Punjab Government was committed to declaring the entire state as Principal Market Area. It also rejected the APMC Act of 2017. But the Bills subsequently brought by the Amarinder government carried none of these provisions. The CM has misled and betrayed the House,” Sukhbir alleged.

Stressing that Punjab farmers were the backbone of the state, he said: “We have been demanding that the MSP regime must cover all 22 listed crops. When the SAD forms government, we will ensure that this is done.”