SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal attacked the NDA over farm bills on Saturday. (Proceedings)
Chandigarh / New Delhi:
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal attacked the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last night after her party resigned from the alliance over controversial agricultural bills, which were passed by parliament last week. In a tweet, she said that the NDA was no longer the alliance “imagined” by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“If the pain and protests of 3 cr punjabis fail to melt the rigid stance of GoI (Government of India), it is no longer the #NDA imagined by Vajpayee ji and Badal sahab. An alliance that turns a deaf ear to its most ally Old and turning a blind eye to the pleas of those who feed the nation is no longer in the interest of Pb, (sic) “, said his tweet.
His latest remarks come nearly a week after he resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet as his party faced heat from farmers over its initial support for the BJP-allied agricultural sector bills. Ms Badal, who attended the cabinet meeting that clarified the bills, resigned shortly before the bills were approved by the Lok Sabha and tweeted that she was “proud to support farmers like her daughter and sister.”
If Pain & Protests of 3 cr punjabis fail to melt GoI’s rigid stance, it is no longer the #NDA imagined by Vajpayee ji and Badal sahab. An alliance that turns a deaf ear to its oldest ally and turns a blind eye to the pleas of those who feed the nation is no longer in Pb’s interest. https://t.co/OqU6at00Jx
– Harsimrat Kaur Badal (@HarsimratBadal_) September 26, 2020
On Saturday, the SAD became the third senior member of the NDA to withdraw from the group after Shiv Sena and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) amid protests over controversial agricultural bills passed by parliament last week.
“The highest decision-making body of the Shiromani Akali Dal central committee at its emergency meeting tonight unanimously decided to withdraw from the BJP-led NDA alliance,” said Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, husband of Harsimrat Badal in Chandigarh. The controversial bills are “deadly and disastrous” for its key voter base of farmers, he stressed.
Parliament approved on Sunday two bills related to the agricultural sector: the Draft Law on Trade in Agricultural Products and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) of 2020 and the Agreement for the Guarantee of Prices and Agricultural Services of Farmers (Empowerment and Protection ) of 2020, which were approved by parliament. A third bill, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, passed unopposed amid fierce protests.
While the opposition has called the bills “anti-farmer”, farmers fear they will no longer get the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their products.
With the entry of private actors into the agricultural sector, farmers will lose bargaining power, critics have claimed.
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