Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the oldest ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, broke away on the issue of agricultural bills that were recently passed by Parliament.
The BJP government in the Center has said that these landmark laws will make farmers self-sufficient.
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The Agricultural Products Trade and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill seeks to give farmers freedom to sell their products outside the notified APMC market yards (mandis). This, says the government, is aimed at facilitating remunerative prices through competitive alternative commercial channels.
The Agricultural Price Assurance and Services Agreement for Farmers (Empowerment and Protection), 2020 seeks to grant farmers the right to enter into a contract with agricultural firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers for the sale of future agricultural products in a previously agreed price. And the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill seeks to remove commodities such as grains, legumes, oilseeds, onions, and potatoes from the list of essential commodities and will remove the imposition of stock storage limits.
SAD had asked the BJP-led central government not to bring the bills to parliament until “all reservations” expressed by farmers are “duly addressed.”
But when the Center ignored it, the Akali Dal asked it to forward these farm bills to a select committee, which was also not accepted.
Thereafter, Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from the Union Cabinet in protest against the bills.
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Previously, SAD had argued that the Center had ensured that these ordinances would not affect the existing crop procurement policy.
The issue had become thorny for SAD. According to the Hindustan Times’ Hindi publication, Hindustan, staying with the government would have sent the wrong message to a large part of the vote bank in Punjab: the farmers. SAD has control over the Malwa region of Punjab, which is dominated by farmers. And she doesn’t want to risk the 2022 Assembly elections.
The Akalis formed the government in Punjab twice before 2017. But in 2017, they only won 15 seats out of 117. Seeking to return to power, the Akalis do not want to antagonize farmers, according to Hindustan.
SAD had been part of the NDA since 1997. Akali’s stalwart Parkash Singh Badal used to describe ties to the BJP as ‘nau-mass da rishta’ (ties like nails and flesh).
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