Youth Akali Dal accuses Ludhiana MLA Bains of involvement in paddy seed scam

Demanding a probe, party holds protest against LIP president and burns his effigy

Accusing Lok Insaaf Party chief and MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains of involvement in the spurious paddy seed scam, the Youth Akali Dal (YAD) staged a protest and burnt his effigy here on Wednesday.

Youth Akali Dal staging a protest against Lok Insaaf Party president Simarjeet Singh Bains in Ludhiana on Wednesday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

Demanding a probe into the alleged role of Bains in the scam, YAD chief Gurdeep Singh Gosha said Baljinder Singh Bhundri, a farmer from Bhundri village in Jagraon, who has been arrested in connection with the scam, was a close aide of Bains.

Gosha said Bhundri had duped farmers by selling spurious seeds of PR 128 and PR 129 paddy varieties with the alleged support of Bains.

He said Bhundri had campaigned for Bains during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Bains, however, refuted the allegation and termed them baseless.

Bains said neither he nor his party supported any people involved in fleecing farmers. Stating that he himself was a whistleblower, Bains said he had raised the issue of black marketing of paddy seeds on May 12.