Leaders of major farmers’ unions of Punjab on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to reconsider and withdraw the recent ordinances related to the farm sector.

Participating in a Video Conference meeting convened by the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who has given call to send out a strong message of protest to the Centre on the issue, the Unions said the recently promulgated Ordinances and the proposed Amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003, are perceived as being strongly anti-farmer.

“These Ordinances and the proposed Amendment are also a direct attack on the federal fabric of the country and, therefore, must be withdrawn,” they said, in a unanimous resolution passed at the end of the meeting.

Underlining the need to protect Punjab and its farming needs, Amarinder earlier asserted that “we all must unitedly stand together notwithstanding our political affiliations.” He said he was fully prepared to take any steps necessary to protect the interests of the state and its farmers, as he had done over the SYL water sharing issue.

The CM lashed out at the Centre for undermining the contribution of the farmers and the soldiers, pointing out that they had clearly forgotten the Kisan in the ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ slogans that had reverberated through the country when Punjab’s farmers made India self-sufficient.

With other states also now producing food grains, the Central government seemed to have decided not just to ignore but actually destroy the interests of Punjab’s farmers, majority of whom were small, he added.

Charging the Union Government with trying to take away all powers from the states, the CM said everyone, even children, could see through the designs of the central government, which clearly wanted to ruin Punjab, and even withdraw free power to the farmers.

Citing the escalating fuel price hike, the CM said the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had already passed a resolution demanding withdrawal of the hike, which was also designed to cause problems for people, including farmers.

He said he would try to get chief ministers of other states on board to put up a united fight against the Union government on this issue. The CM said he would get the proposal of challenging the Ordinances in court legally examined.