Amarinder Singh had said that ML Khattar did not call him to discuss the farmers’ protest. (Archive)
Chandigarh:
The dispute between Punjab and Haryana’s top ministers over farmers’ protests found new ground on Sunday with Captain Amarinder Singh and Manohar Lal Khattar turning the fight to the question of who called whom, when and where.
After Khattar’s personal secretary posted a document on Twitter, stating that his office had tried to call Captain Singh at least 13 times between Monday and Tuesday and received no response, the Chief Minister of Punjab said the attempt “exposed his deception. “
“If someone from your office called my residence, why were the calls made to an assistant? Why weren’t official channels used to communicate with me?” Captain Singh said
“Senior Punjab government officials, at the senior secretary and DGP level, among others, have been in contact on the farmers issue in recent days, but none of these officials expressed a desire for Khattar to speak. with me in no time. in time, “said the Chief Minister.
“Khattar could have just picked up the phone and called me on my mobile phone,” he added.
Amarinder Singh’s response came after Khattar’s personal secretary, Abhimanyu Singh, responded to him on Twitter saying, “Sir, it appears that your personal staff did not inform you about phone calls from other senior ministers made in an official capacity.”
Speaking to the ANI news agency on Sunday, Khattar said: “If any dangerous situation arises due to the coronavirus, the government of Punjab will be held responsible. I tried to speak to the top Punjab ministers on this matter, but he denied receiving any calls. Later, when I showed the proof, he was speechless. “
The two chief ministers have been arguing for days about the farmers’ protest. While Captain Singh accused Mr. Khattar of a harsh crackdown on Punjab farmers marching through their state to Delhi, the Chief Minister of Haryana responded by saying that the protesters had been instigated.
Farmers from several states, including UP, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Punjab, began marching to Delhi this week to protest against the center’s new agricultural laws, which they fear will leave them at the mercy of companies.
For three days, the Haryana police, which is governed by the BJP, which is also in power in the center, tried unsuccessfully to hit them with tear gas, water cannons, batons, concrete barricades and barbed wire, but the Most of the farmers have managed to reach Delhi where they plan to protest until their demands are met.
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