Describing the protest outside and inside the Punjab Assembly by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) as a political gimmick, the Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar said that SAD supremo Sukhbir Singh Badal should stage such protests outside LokSabha to give a wakeup call to anti-Punjab Modi government.
In a statement, the Lok Sabha member from Gurdaspur said it was disgraceful on part of Akali leadership that for sake of one ministry in Modi government they had completely ignored the interests of the state.
He said that it was ironical that on one hand the Congress government of Punjab, despite of its limited financial resources, was trying to its best for the debt waiver of the farmers and to improve the financial situation of state while on other hand Modi government has doing nothing for the farmers’ interest.
Jakhar said that shamelessly the Akalis were supporting Modi and opposing Amarinder Singh government in state for doing welfare of farmers.
Making a scathing attack on the Akali Dal, an ally partner of the Modi government, Jakhar asked the Akali leaders to stand in favor of the truth.
“Debt of how many farmers was waived off during 10 year regime of SAD-BJP in state and now when SAD has partnership in NDA government of center what it did for the peasantry,”Jakhar questioned the Akali Dal.
Jakhar said that SAD has mortgaged the interest of state to Modi government for the greed of only one ministerial post in the Union government.
He said that when the Telugu Desam Party can leave the post of two ministers from the Central government for the sake of their state, why not the Akali Dal dares to forgo a ministerial post for his state.
Jakhar told the leaders of the Akali Dal that his MLAs want to come in black robes in their own Assembly but its MPs also dare to go to the Parliament by wearing black robes to tell story of the misery of the farmers.
Referring to the reply given by Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers welfare ministry PursotamRupala against the question asked by him and his colleagues in the Lok Sabha, Jakhar said that farmer suicide is a nationwide phenomenon. He said that economic condition of the country’s farmer is pitiable.
In such cases, it is the responsibility of the central government to come up with any policy to bail out the country’s peasantry from this socio-economic crisis. He said that according to the data provided by the Central government in LokSabha, during the year 2014, 12360 farmers commit suicide, while in the year 2015, 12602 and during the year 2016, 11370 farmers and farm laborers committed suicides.