Patiala: Akali Dal behind farmers’ boycott call, says BJP

Patiala, April 25

Once alliance partners, SAD and the BJP are at loggerheads in the run-up to the lok Sabha elections.

A day after farmers of 24 villages declared to boycott BJP and AAP candidates and protest if they enter their villages to seek votes, BJP candidate Preneet Kaur said the statement had political overtone and appeal was made by a few individuals backed by Shiromani Akali Dal candidate NK Sharma.

She said this while interacting with mediapersons during the sidelines of a party meeting organised by former Gujarat Chief Minister and state in-charge Vijay Rupani and state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar with party workers.

While Rupani and Jakhar refrained from interacting with the media, Preneet lashed out at SAD and accused the panthic party of spreading falsehood.

“The Northern Bypass project, which had been stalled since long, was approved in 2021 during the Congress regime led by Capt Amarinder Singh. The land was to be acquired but Charanjit Singh Channi replaced Capt Amarinder Singh and the matter was put on the back burner. After four meetings with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, the Rs 754 cr project was approved and the tender process was also started on Wednesday. The state government is not contributing its share of Rs 250 crore,” she said.

The Punjab Government was to decide the amount of land compensation and send the proposal to the Centre at the earliest.

The press conference by AAP yesterday was politically motivated and conducted not by farmers, but by NK Sharma instead. “I have been taking up the issues of farmers and visiting the villages. I have not received any information from farmers that they will boycott my entry to the villages,” said Preneet.

Sharma had said the AAP government and the BJP-led Centre should award a base rate of Rs 2.88 crore per acre for 300 acres being acquired for the Northern Bypass project near the city or be ready for a sustained agitation by SAD.