In a fresh salvo against Captain Amarinder Singh from the new Congress dispensation in Punjab, sports and education minister Pargat Singh on Saturday alleged that the former chief minister conspired with the Bharatiya Janata Party to delay the procurement of paddy in the state.
A day before its scheduled beginning, the Union food and public distribution ministry on September 30 decided to postpone paddy procurement in Punjab and Haryana to October 11. Even as the Centre attributed the move to high moisture content in the fresh stock, farmers and opposition parties are up in arms against the delay.
Questioning the timing of the announcement, which came a day after Amarinder met Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi, Pargat said: “The BJP government has been harassing farmers... (relations between Amarinder and BJP) have been an open secret now... no leader should opt for such a behaviour.”
Pargat, who was talking to mediapersons in his Jalandhar Cantt constituency, said the Punjab government was fully prepared for paddy procurement. He said chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, urged him to immediately withdraw the decision to postpone procurement as first 10 days are very crucial for the lifting of paddy.
Amarinder, after his meeting with Shah, had denied reports of joining the BJP and claimed that he discussed the ongoing farmers’ agitation with the home minister and urged him to repeal the contentious farm laws.
{{/usCountry}}Amarinder, after his meeting with Shah, had denied reports of joining the BJP and claimed that he discussed the ongoing farmers’ agitation with the home minister and urged him to repeal the contentious farm laws.
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