Agitating farmer unions should contest Punjab assembly polls: Gurnam Singh Chaduni

Chandigarh, July 7

Outfits involved in farmers’ agitation against the new agriculture laws should contest the Punjab assembly elections as it will “present a model on how the system can be changed”, Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) president Gurnam Singh Chaduni said on Wednesday

Chaduni, a key leader of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SMK) which is spearheading the farmers’ stir, said, “What I want to say is that we should not run ‘Mission UP, but Mission Punjab’.  SKM has planned a ‘mahapanchayat’ in September and other activities in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to the polls next year”.

“Now, we are moving for Mission UP. A Mahapanchayat will be organised on September 5. Other activities will happen. Then polls will come and we will work to defeat the BJP.”

“If we assume BJP gets defeated, will the Centre then agree to our demands? Don’t take it otherwise,” said Chaduni in a video message, and cited the example of West Bengal, where the farmer bodies campaigned against the BJP.

“The BJP was defeated there, but did the Centre then accept our demand,” he asked.

Chaduni said that even the opposition has not categorically stated that if they come to power these laws will be scrapped and a law to guarantee MSP will be framed.  In the video message, Chaduni said that “we say that we want to change the system, but don’t apply enough thought to what has to be done to realise this.”    He said that BJP and the Congress have not been able to change the system, “then from whom should we expect to do this?”

“If we have to change the system, then we will have to formulate a plan. And that plan should be ‘Mission Punjab’,” he said. Notably, Punjab goes to the polls early next year. The farmers’ stir against the farm laws began from the state last year before it spread to other parts, with the protesting farmers now sitting at Delhi’s borders for over seven months in support of their demands to roll back the farm laws.

“So many bodies from Punjab are playing an active role in this agitation. But if they enter into the poll arena and contest polls in Punjab and capture power and show how things can be changed, this can be presented as a sample, a model to show how a government can be run, which can act as an example for the rest of the country,” said Chaduni. He said the people of Punjab are looking for a change.

“Why can’t we win polls in Punjab…people of Punjab want a change in the system. Therefore, Mission Punjab is needed so that it can be shown as a model. If there is a government of farmers and labourers in place, we can show it can be done,” he said. Chaduni’s statement evoked a sharp reaction from the BJP in Punjab, with senior leader Harjit Singh Grewal saying that it is now clear that the agitating unions were driven by political motives.

“The fact that their motive is political is no longer hidden,” said Grewal. — PTI