After Capt, his wife Preneet visits Sirhind grain market, blames AAP govt for Punjab paddy pangs

Days after senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh's visit to the Khanna grain market, his wife and former MP from Patiala Preneet Kaur visited a grain market on the Sirhind road and lambasted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led state government for the tardy paddy procurement.

Preneet maintained that the Centre had released funds for the procurement in September, but the AAP government “took no measures to tackle the impending storage space crisis”.

She alleged that the state government was aware of the bumper paddy crop and the space paucity that would have happened, but the “Bhagwant Mann government allowed the situation to deteriorate, due to which farmers are suffering in grain markets”. “The worst part is that there is no water facility in mandis and there is a serious shortage of gunny bags,” the BJP leader said.

She said a delegation of Punjab BJP leaders on Sunday met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and submitted a memorandum alleging inefficiency on part of the AAP government in tardy paddy lifting. She said of the 185 MT stock kept with various rice millers, nearly 145 MT had been moved to create space for fresh stock.

Captain Amarinder’s visit to the Khanna mandi too was seen as an attempt to connect with farmers and address their concerns. During his visit, he interacted with local farmers and discussed various agricultural issues, including crop prices and government policies. He said that during his term as the Chief Minister, farmers did not suffer procurement blues because of “advanced planning by him”.