Condemning the Punjab police’s crackdown on protesting farmers at the Shambhu border, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu alleged that the action was aimed at derailing the ongoing talks between farmer leaders and the Centre.
Bittu said that he spoke to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. They were also shocked to hear about the Punjab government’s action as they had concluded the seventh round of talks with the farmers on a positive note, Minister Bittu stated.
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“I was just having a conversation with Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Piyush Goyal, and they informed me that we concluded the seventh round of meeting with farmers on a positive note. However, they were shocked to hear what had happened,” said Bittu.
He further claimed that the move was aimed at sabotaging talks between farmers and the Centre, and an attempt to win the Ludhiana West by-election.
“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,” the Union Minister said.
Launching a scathing attack on Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, he accused him of working on Kejriwal’s directions.
“Tu (Mann) sirf Kejriwal de ishareya te nachda (You only do what Kejriwal says). 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,” Bittu added.
Late Wednesday night, the Punjab police used force to remove the protesting farmers from the Haryana-Punjab border. They detained farmer leaders, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha head Sarvan Singh Pandher.
