New Delhi, April 29
To mount pressure on the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre to immediately rollback the wealth tax on agriculture land, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal held meetings with Janata Dal (United), Trinamool Congress and AIADMK leaders here today.

A spokesperson for the Chief Minister’s Office said Badal called on JD (U) leader and NDA convener Sharad Yadav at the latter’s residence to enlist his party’s support and cooperation to mount pressure on the Centre to move an amendment to the Finance Bill- 2013 to withdraw the levy of wealth tax on agricultural land.

Badal also wanted the Centre to provide the specific exemption to agriculture land from wealth tax where the respective courts have upheld levy of this tax on the agriculture land.

Allaying the fear of social unrest and anarchy in the country, the Chief Minister asked Sharad Yadav to save the beleaguered peasantry from wealth tax which has sounded a death knell for all, including farm labour, small and marginal traders directly or indirectly associated with agriculture profession.

Later, the Chief Minister also apprised TMC leader Sudeep Bandopadhya and AIADMK Leader Dr Thambi Durai about the impending implications of this 'arbitrary provision' of wealth tax which would further destabilise the nation’s overall economic scenario in general and Punjab’s agrarian economy in particular.

The Chief Minister solicited their support for safeguarding the interests of Punjab farmers and said that they should not view this move merely as a political; rather it was an economic issue adversely affecting a wide spectrum of nation’s peasantry besides several stakeholders directly or indirectly related with agriculture.

Earlier, the Chief Minister called on BJP president Rajnath Singh and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, seeking their intervention to bail out the distressed farming community from the clutches of wealth tax by mobilising public opinion against this 'ill- conceived' decision.