‘Kejriwal de ishareya…’: Union minister tears into Punjab CM over detention of farmers
Several farmer leaders were detained by the Punjab police on Wednesday evening while returning from a meeting meeting with the central government.
Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Punjab chief minister Bhagwat Mann over the detention of protesting farmers from the Shambhu border.
The detentions come as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government continues to hold talks with the protesting farmers. Several farmer leaders were detained by the Punjab police on Wednesday evening while returning from one such meeting. Bittu, who is the only member minister from Punjab in the Narendra Modi government, accused Mann of working at the behest of Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal.
"Tu sirf Kejriwal de ishareya te nachda (You only work on Kejriwal’s signals),” Bittu was quoted by ANI as saying.
The Union minister went on to say that the people of Punjab won't let the CM enter any village in the state.
“You put the entire Punjab and farmers at stake just to remain in power. You'll see that nothing will happen to Kejriwal, but the people of Punjab will not allow you to enter any village," he added.
Bittu alleged that the Mann government didn't want the talks between the centre and the farmers to conclude. He said that he had a conversation with Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and he, along with Piyush Goyal were shocked to hear that action was being taken against farmers with whom they "positively" concluded the talks.
"I condemn this action of the Punjab government. They voted for you, and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann should be ashamed. They (the AAP government) did not want a solution to be found through talks between the central government and the farmers. You detained farmers just to win the Ludhiana West by-election," ANI quoted the Union minister as saying.
Congress, Akalis joins in attacking Bhagwant Mann over detention of protesting farmers
Congress and the Akali Dal joined in attacking the Bhagwat Mann government over the detention of the protesting farmers from the Shambhu border.
Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi lambasted the government over the issue, saying that Punjab was going through ‘tragic times’. The Jalandhar MP also hinted at a meeting between Bhagwant Mann and Union home minister Amit Shah, and said that the farming community was ‘under attack’ as part of a 'conspiracy’, ANI reported.
On the other hand, former Punjab deputy CM and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal also lashed out at the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab over the ‘arrest’ of protesting farmers at the Shambhu border, who remain firm on various demands including legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops.
“The Bhagwat Mann government, which promised to give MSP to the farmers of Punjab in five minutes, is not even ready to listen to the legitimate demands of the farmers today. I strongly condemned the forcible abduction of farmer leaders and farmers. The Punjab government should immediately release the arrested farmers and accept their demands,” Badal wrote in a Facebook post.
Several farmer leaders were detained by the police, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who remains on an indefinite fast, and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarvan Singh Pandher. Dallewal was moved to the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences in Jalandhar after the detention.
