Sidhu accuses Badals of laying foundation of Central farm laws, SAD hits back

PPCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday said that Badals laid the foundation of central farm laws. He also said that the Badals initially supported the central laws and then took a U-turn after facing heat from farmers.

Talking to media here Sidhu alleged that Badals were the policy makers for the three central farm laws.

He said that SAD patron and former CM Parkash Singh Badal had tabled a bill on contract farming in the Punjab Assembly in 2013 during the SAD-BJP Govt and later it was notified.

He said that one of the central farm laws was photocopy of that Punjab Contract Farming Act. Sidhu claimed that the Punjab’s law never talked about the MSP and it allowed corporates to buy crop below it in order to exploit farmers. As many as 108 crops, including wheat and paddy, were brought under the law, he said.

In case of a dispute, the bureaucracy was given the power to settle it under the Punjab Contract Farming Act, he said, adding that farmers were barred from approaching the court. Sidhu said same were the provisions in central law, adding that no farmer could file any suit under these two laws.

These laws were framed only to benefit the corporates, Sidhu added. He also said that Badals first supported Centre’s three farm laws and then took a U-turn after criticism from farmers.

On the other hand, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said that Navjot Singh Sidhu should not try to befool people by raking up old issues and instead challenged him saying that he should muster the courage to repeal the amendments made in the APMC Act by his government in 2017, if he was really serious about helping the cause of the farming community.