Chandigarh: The Congress has held the Aam Aadmi Party-led
Punjab government and the BJP-led central government responsible for the blocking of 13 toll plazas in the state by the farmer unions. The party alleged that both the state and the failed to address the long-pending demands of the farmers.
Leader of the opposition (LoP) in Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday asked both the governments to “retrospect and pay attention” to the promises that they had made to the farmers, but were yet to be fulfilled.
Referring to the Punjab and Haryana high court’s directive to Punjab on submitting a status and action-taken report on 13 plazas, which were reportedly not being allowed to operate, Bajwa said: “The blockade of toll plazas in the state is the fall out of the discriminatory attitude of the Punjab and the Union governments towards the farmers. The AAP government gave several assurances to the farmers before and after the elections, including compensation for crop damage, proving cash incentives for stubble management, and procuring moong dal at the MSP, which were never fulfilled. Similarly, the BJP-led Union government has yet to legalise the minimum support price and cancel the cases registered against farmers.”
The senior leader said due to the AAP government’s “immaturity to govern”, Punjab had been converted into a “dharna land”.