Harsimrat, whose resignation was announced in the Lok Sabha by his fellow Akali MP, and his spouse, Sukhbir Singh Badal, said Akali Dal’s protest to the legislation was not heeded and that she could never be a party to any decision that goes against the interests of farmers.
The Akalis, who, along with Shiv Sena and the Samata Party as JD (U) was called in its previous incarnation, are the founding members of the NDA, did not specify whether they intend to continue the BJP-led grouping.
A total severance of ties should not hurt the BJP in Parliament, considering Akali Dal’s meager numbers: the two Badals in LS and three MPs in Rajya Sabha. However, after the bitter separation from Shiv Sena, it will mark that the NDA will be further reduced.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Harsimrat attributed his resignation to “the decision of the Indian government to go ahead with controversial bills without addressing and eliminating the detentions of farmers and the decision of Shiromani Akali Dal not to be part of something that is anti-farmer ”.
Asking the PM to accept her resignation with “immediate effect,” the minister said that “before, during and after the promulgation of the three ordinances,” she had done her best to persuade the cabinet to take on the real stakeholders. of this decision, farmers, on board and remove their apprehensions and concerns.
“During all this time, I had the impression that since an ordinance is only a temporary fix, my concerns and pleas would be addressed while the issue is being legislated in Parliament,” Harsimrat said. She added that it deeply hurt her that despite persistent pleas and efforts by her and her party in this regard, the government “had not accepted the farmers.”
“My group always followed the great Guru Sahiban who has taught us never to compromise with one’s principles and uphold what one firmly believes to be correct. That is precisely what I am doing today, ”he said.
Harsimrat, however, expressed her satisfaction at having lived up to the expectations of the people who had placed their complete trust in her. “My decision symbolizes my party’s vision, its glorious legacy and its commitment to go to any lengths to safeguard the interests of farmers,” he said in his four-page resignation letter to the prime minister.
However, the real meaning of Harsimrat’s resignation lies in its timing. It comes at a time when influential sectors of farmers from Punjab and Haryana have taken to the streets to protest the troika of legislation that the government has introduced in the current session to replace the three ordinances enacted to restructure agricultural trade. It would be worth looking at the response of another BJP ally and coalition partner in Haryana, the Jannayak Janta Party, which, like the Akalis, has the dominant Jat peasantry as a cornerstone.
The three contentious laws are: the Draft Law on Trade in Agricultural Products and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation), 2020; Agreement on the Agricultural Prices and Services Guarantee Bill, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the latter of which was approved by Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
As part of the government push in Atmanirbhar Bharat in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, the legislations are aimed at liberalizing agricultural trade by ending the monopoly of the Agricultural Products Market Committees and the dominance of middlemen or ‘arhatiyas’ .
However, an influential group of farmers has claimed that the marginalization of the mandi will lead to the domination of corporate companies which, after initially offering flattery to attract farmers, will acquire the monopoly and reduce the producers to captives.
Until now, the government has stood firm in the face of protests, confined so far to farmers in Punjab, Haryana and some pockets in western UP, and has defended all three bills as intended to expand farmers’ options. by dismantling the regime that forced them to sell their products to the mandis at prices determined by them.
Opposition parties have argued that the legislation will spell the end of the minimum support price regime, a charge that was strongly refuted by the agriculture minister. Narendra Singh Tomar at Lok Sabha.
The BJP leadership has maintained the alliance with the Akalis despite serious misgivings from their Punjab unit, which has maintained that with the disappearance of SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, the ally has become a liability due to the accusations of corruption, nepotism and arrogance facing the government. new crop of leaders.
Aside from the consideration of the unity of the NDA, the BJP position has been influenced by the RSS view that the alliance acts as a bulwark against the Pakistani-inspired secessionists’ attempt to drive a wedge between Sikhs and Hindus. This was one of the reasons why the BJP did not explore the possibility of a link with an influential non-Akali leader in the state who has viscerally opposed the Badals.
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