Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Chairman and former Senior Deputy Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday urged all political parties and farmers’ unions to unite against the central government.
Sukhbir was in Ludhiana to mobilize party workers for the October 1 protest march against agricultural bills, which would start in the state’s three holy Takhts and culminate in Mohali. From here, a SAD delegation would go on to present a memorandum to the Governor of Punjab, VPS Badnore, for the president. A meeting was also held at Gurdwara Shri Manji Sahib’s hall, Alamgir, where the rules of social distancing were omitted.
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Without naming any parties, Sukhbir told the meeting that the parties should not get involved in petty politics. He also demanded the immediate enactment of an Ordinance by the Punjab government to declare the entire state as an agricultural market (mandi) to ensure that the new laws of the Center did not apply in the state.
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Sukhbir also asked the chief minister to repeal the amendments that the congressional government had made to the Agricultural Products Marketing Committee (APMC) Act in 2017. “These amendments are exactly the same as the black laws of the Center against which farmers protest. We will fully support the initiative of the state government to repeal them. “
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