New Delhi: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) senior leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal said on Friday, a day after he resigned from the Union Cabinet in protest against the Farmer Agriculture Bill. Said, “He is sorry that his voice raised in support of the farmers has not been heard and at the same time he demanded the government to send these Bills to the Parliamentary Committee for detailed deliberations.”
Badal said in an interview to PTI, “I left my mother in the ICU of the hospital to play the duty of participating in the Parliament debate on these three bills and registering my protest.” I then resigned in protest against these proposed bills. “
She resigned after her husband and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s strong opposition to these bills in the Lok Sabha on Thursday night. Sukhvir Singh Badal claimed that the proposed bills would “destroy” the agricultural sector in Punjab and announced that Harsimrat Kaur Badal would step down as minister in the government in protest against these three bills.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal became Union Food Processing Minister for the first time in 2014 and remained with the ministry during the second term of the BJP-led NDA government starting in 2019. She said that she urges the government not to proceed on these bills without the consent of the farmers. The SAD voted against all three Bills.
These are the Bills – Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, Agricultural Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, and the Kisanaka (Protection and Empowerment) Convention Bill on Agricultural Services and Price Assurance. These Bills were passed by voice vote during the voting in Lok Sabha. The Congress and many other opposition parties are also opposing these Bills, while the SAD is the only NDA member party to come up against these Bills.
Badal said, “I have been opposing it since the ordinance came into the Council of Ministers. I was working as a bridge between the farmers and the government to remove all the doubts and fears of the farmers. I appeal to the government not to pursue these bills until all the apprehensions of the farmers are removed. ” He added, “I am deeply saddened that my voice was not heard in the Council of Ministers and the government did not send it to the Select Committee of Parliament for consultation with all stakeholders including farmers.” If my voice had been heard, the farmers would not have come on the streets to protest. “
Badal said that the government should not insist on passing these bills and they should be sent to the Select Committee of Parliament, so that it could be discussed with all stakeholders. Harsimrat said of his resignation, “Please do not see this as a resignation, as it was my duty as a representative of Punjab and the farmers.”
Punjab Chief Minister and Congress leader Amarinder Singh called his resignation a “drama”. In retaliation, he said, “He himself is the greatest dramatist and the biggest liar.” He said, “Amarinder Singh and Congress are talking double.” When these ordinances were planned, all Chief Ministers were consulted and consented. Also, these three bills were part of the Congress party’s manifesto for the 2017 assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. “
Badal said that Singh has failed to fulfill all other promises except this one promise of Congress party manifesto, as a result farmers in Punjab are on the streets. Asked if the SAD will be out of the NDA too, he said that it is for the party to decide and all senior leaders will take a collective decision on the issue. Assembly elections are due in 2022 in Punjab.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, in her resignation to the Prime Minister, recalled decades of cooperation between the two parties. This alliance between the two parties was done during the time of Akali Dar Veteran leader Sardar Parkash Singh Badal and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He hoped that the two parties would continue to work together for community harmony and peace in Punjab.
