Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will adopt the two children of the debt-ridden farmer who committed suicide along with his mother at a Barnala village on Tuesday, party’s MP from Sangrur, Bhagwant Mann, has said here on Sunday.
Mann said that Kejriwal would visit Barnala’s Jodhpur village on May 4 and adopt the farmer’s son and daughter. “Kejriwal says he will have four children now and he will provide them with the best possible education in Delhi,” the MP said here in an AAP state-level function organised with the help of the Punjab State Karamchari Dal.
Unable to repay Rs 1.8 lakh loan that his father, Darshan Singh, had taken in 2002, farmer Baljit Singh (35) and his mother, Balbir Kaur (62), committed suicide when commission agent Teja Singh and his sons go to his door along with police to take possession of his land.
Mann said Teja Singh was a cop himself and one of his sons was active member of the Student Organisation of India (SOI), student wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). “Yet on the other side, the Badals (Punjab’s ruling family) claim to be friends of farmers,” said the MP.
Meanwhile, Karamchari Dal state president Hari Singh Tohra accused the ruling party of being anti-employee. He said the implementation of the sixth Pay Commission recommendations, release of the pending instalments of dearness allowance, regularisation of the services of employees in different departments, acceptance of the demands of Asha, MNREGS and Anganwadi workers were all pending. “The government has not paid many employees for the past eight months but appointed more chief parliamentary secretaries. It’s disregard to taxpayers’ money and employees’ rights,” said Tohra.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Karamchari Dal state president Hari Singh Tohra accused the ruling party of being anti-employee. He said the implementation of the sixth Pay Commission recommendations, release of the pending instalments of dearness allowance, regularisation of the services of employees in different departments, acceptance of the demands of Asha, MNREGS and Anganwadi workers were all pending. “The government has not paid many employees for the past eight months but appointed more chief parliamentary secretaries. It’s disregard to taxpayers’ money and employees’ rights,” said Tohra.
{{/usCountry}}‘Phoolka chose to be not involved’
Replying to the media on Supreme Court lawyer HS Phoolka’s viral video about ticket distribution for the 2017 assembly elections, Mann said Phoolka himself had chosen to be out of active politics to concentrate on representing victims in the 1984 riots case.
‘Shaheed needs no certificate’
“Shaheed Bhagat Singh was 23 when he died for country and he is still an inspiration for the entire nation,” said Mann on the wrong representation of the martyr in a Delhi University book. “He needs no certificate,” the MP added.
‘Capt not in demand’
Asking his supporters to stop raising slogans against the ruling party, Mann took a dig at Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh, saying: “Even Canadian people are not willing to listen to him, so they told him to go back.”
Sidelights
AAP’s national organisation-building head Durgesh Pathak was also on stage but he passed the mike to Bhagwant Mann after greeting the public.
The Sangrur MP recited poems on political matters and suicides on Punjab farms.