Kisan Bus Yatra: Captain courts farmers for rich poll harvest in Punjab
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Monday embarked on three-day ‘Kisan Bus Yatra’, which will cover over 500 km in seven districts, with a vow to “punish” Badals for allegedly pushing the state’s farmers to suicide.
After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal announced debt waiver for farmers in a manifesto released at Baghapurana rally last month, Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday started his three-day kisan yatra during the paddy procurement season in a specially designed air-conditioned bus equipped with a hydraulic platform. The bus was flagged off by widows of farm suicide victims in Chandigarh.
On the first day of his roadshow, Amarinder visited grain markets in Moga and Faridkot districts where he met farmers. “Inha Baadlan ne tuhada jhona nahin chakeya, par main inhan nu chakkanga (Badals didn’t lift your paddy, I will teach them a lesson),” Amarinder said to farmers at the Baghapurana mandi in Moga. Farmers also complained of delay in procurement and quality of sprays.
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Later at Kotkapura, the state Congress chief said agriculture minister Tota Singh, who was involved in selling “spurious” fertilisers to cotton farmers, and other Akali leaders, including Kotkapura MLA Mantar Brar, would be brought to justice once the Congress comes to power. “I will teach Badals a lesson for failing to procure paddy from mandis on time and nobody involved in harassing or cheating farmers would be spared,” he said.
He announced to launch an investigation into “multiple scams — from drugs to the bus permit scam, and sand smuggling and liquor mafia — that the Badals are involved in”, following due process of law.
Amarinder reiterated his commitment to waive farmers’ loans and also assured them of prompt redress of their problems. He also met the farmers at Faridkot.
The three-day road show will commence from Faridkot on Tuesday, from where he will leave for Ludhiana to burn ‘chitta’ Ravan at the spot where Congress workers were “attacked” by Youth Akali Dal activists on Dussehra eve.
The yatra will cover 500km in Faridkot, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Muktsar, Jalalabad and Ferozepur.
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