Pardeep Luthra , Gurdaspur, April 15: The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President, Mr. Partap Singh Bajwa, today called upon his opponent from the Akali Dal supported Bharatiya Janata Party Mr. Vinod Khanna to explain his stand on the Sikh farmers settled in Kutch area of Gujarat who were facing eviction threat.
Mr. Bajwa alowngwith S. Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa MLA Fatehgarh Churian toured Hardo Jhande, Dhadiala Natt, Saar Chur and Kala Afgana villages of Fatehgarh Churian Assembly Segment and he said the Gujarat Chief Minister and NDA’s prime ministerial candidate, Mr. Narendra Modi, had failed to come to the rescue of these beleaguers farmers who turned these waste lands into green lands through hard labour during the last about 50 years.
He said what was all the more reprehensible was that these farmers had won their case in the Gujarat High Court but the Modi government went into appeal to the Supreme Court against this order. The issue was the withdrawal of special leave petition filed by the Gujarat government from the apex court but Mr. Modi had maintained an intriguing silence on this basic point.
The PPCC chief said this action of the Gujarat government reinforced the perception of Mr. Modi being anti-minority. Earlier, he had the image of being anti-Muslim but the case of these Sikh farmers was unquestionable evidence that he was against all the minorities in the country.
“It was the Punjab Chief Minister, R. Parkash Singh Badal, who was amongst the first leaders to hail Mr. Modi as the future of India. The Akali Dal has been claiming to be the representative of the Sikhs. However, Mr. Badal has no specific answer as to why the leader being hailed by him has failed to come to the rescue of these farmers. Mr. Khanna is the BJP candidate supported by the Akali dal and as such, he must make his stand clear on the withdrawal of the SLP by the Gujarat government from the Supreme Court. You cannot mislead people all the time”, he said.
Bajwa recalled that it was Mr. Badal who had unashamedly bestowed the title of Sardar-e-Azam on Mr. Modi without getting any assurance from him on the withdrawal of this petition. “ Mr. Badal has always been dictated by the personal and the family interests rather than the interests of Punjab, Punjabis and the Sikhs. In this very case, he has adopted the policy to appease the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate for very personal reason in case the NDA comes to power. What Mr. Badal sees is mirage as the ambition of Mr. Modi would never materialise, thereby leaving Mr. Badal in the lurch as he wants cabinet berth for his daughter-in-law Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal. There are two ifs, one if is associated with the future of the NDA and the other to that of his daughter-in-law”, he added.
He said Mr. Badal was under the illusion of a Modi wave sweeping across Punjab whereas the situation was to the contrary with tsunami of anti-incumbency against his government gaining strength every day which would demolish the edifice of his repressive, corrupt and anti-people government.
Others present were Balwinder Singh Bhalwali President BCC Fatehgarh Churian, Balwinder Singh Bhullar, President BCC Batala, Tarpal Singh Parowal, Onkar Singh Lati, Hardyal Singh Parowal, Buta Singh Ghoga, Lakhwinder Aliwal, S. Samitar Singh Ex-Sarpanch, S. Hardeep Singh, S. Masa Singh, Malkit Singh. Narinder Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Harvail Singh, Paramjit Singh, Gurdip Singh Tangewal, Gurwinder Singh BSF, Baljinder Singh, Kuldeep Singh Jaithu, Lakhwinder Singh Pardhan, Dilbag Singh, Santokh Singh Pardhan, Sohan Singh, Bhinder Singh Bhinda, Simarjit Singh, Jugraj Singh.