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AAP protests against BJP over ‘tardy’ paddy lifting, police use water cannons
Police on Wednesday used water cannons against Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers who were trying to march towards the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Sector 37, to “gherao” it in protest against slow lifting of paddy.
Police on Wednesday used water cannons against Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers who were trying to march towards the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Sector 37, to “gherao” it in protest against slow lifting of paddy.
As the protesters, including eight cabinet ministers and top leaders of the state unit, attempted to march towards the BJP office, they were stopped by the Chandigarh police, who had set up barricades. Following this, the protesters tried to jump over the barricades, leading the police to use water cannons amid much jostling and shoving.
“During the scuffle, cabinet minister Harjot Singh Bains’ turban fell off, which escalated the matter. In response, AAP leaders raised slogans against the Chandigarh police and the central government,” a press statement issued by the party read.
The protesters included cabinet ministers Bains, Harbhajan Singh, Tarunpreet Singh Sondh, Lal Chand Kataruchak, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Laljit Singh Bhullar, Dr Ravjot Singh, and Hardeep Singh Mundia, AAP’s state working president Principal Budhram, general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat, and MLAs Ashok Pappi Parashar, Ranbir Singh Bhullar, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi, Narinder Kaur Bharaj, Dinesh Chaddha, Charanjit Singh Channi, Inderbir Singh Nijjar, Balkar Singh, Rupinder Singh Happy, Jameel-ur-Rehman, Santosh Kataria, and Sukhbir Singh Maisarkhana among others.
Addressing the party workers, minister Harbhajan Singh alleged that paddy arrives in the markets in October every year, but the Centre deliberately did not lift the old grains from godowns this time. “Now, the markets are overflowing with paddy. Farmers, traders, sheller owners, and labourers are all distressed, but the central government is not listening,” he added.
The cabinet minister accused the BJP leaders of spreading rumours to hide their mistakes as the root of all these problems was the central government and its agency, Food Corporation of India. He said the state government had been writing to FCI for the past seven to eight months, and chief minister Bhagwant Mann also met with central ministers, but no action was taken. “Our demonstration is in support of farmers, labourers, traders, and sheller owners, and against the central government. We will fight for the rights of farmers and ensure a solution to the problem,” he said.
Bains said that it was extremely unfortunate that while people across the country are celebrating Diwali, farmers in Punjab were struggling in the mandis. He said their fault was that they fought against the BJP government’s black agricultural laws. “No matter how hard the BJP tries, we will not allow our farmers to be mistreated,” he added. Paddy procurement in grain markets of the state has been affected by the refusal of private rice millers to mill the paddy due to the low out-turn (paddy to rice) ratio of PR-126 and other hybrid varieties, claiming that it will cause them huge losses, and storage space crunch. They are demanding speedy evacuation of rice and wheat stock of previous seasons to create space for storing the fresh crop.
