Farmer dies during protest against BJP’s Patiala candidate Preneet Kaur, blame game begins

Tribune News Service

Mohit Khanna

Patiala, May 4

A 50-year-old farmer died while protesting against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Preneet Kaur at Sehra village near Rajpura on Saturday.

The victim was identified as Surinderpal Singh of Akkri village near Rajpura.

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According to farmer leader Tejveer Singh Toor, the victim, along with other farmer union workers, was protesting against BJP Lok Sabha candidate Preneet Kaur, who was visiting the village for campaigning.

Police personnel soon reached the spot and prevented the farmers from reaching the vehicle of Preneet Kaur. During the protest, the farmer collapsed. Few farmers took Surinderpal to a nearby building. He was kept under shade and farmers tried to revive him. In the meantime, another group of farmers squatted in front of Preneet’s car and started raising slogans.

As tension began to mount, the police gheraoed the protesting farmers and Preneet Kaur and her supporters drove off in the vehicle.

Farmer leader Tejveer Singh Toor said that no effort was made either by the police or by MP’s supporters to rush the farmer to the hospital. Later, Surinder was taken to the government hospital in Rajpura where he was declared dead on arrival. Toor said that the post-mortem examination would not be performed till the time the police do not record the statement of the victim’s family.

Following the incident, several farmer leaders who were campaigning in Haryana and districts of Punjab started reaching Shambhu border. Sarvan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, leaders from Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM-Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, protesting at Shambhu and Khanauri border reached the hospital and held a meeting to decide the next course of action.

Prem Singh Bhangu, president, All-India Kisan Federation (AIKF), demanded registration of murder case against the BJP leader following the incident.

Sarvan Pandher alleged that the nephew of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Prem Singh Chandumajra, Harvinder Singh Harpalpur, who recently joined the BJP had entered into a scuffle with the protesting farmers.

Following a meeting with Surinderpal’s wife Charanjit Kaur and son Rashem Singh, SKM-Non-Political has demanded registration of a murder case BJP leader Harvinder Singh Harpalpur. The farmer organisation has also demanded government job for a family member of the victim and waiver of loan, if any, on the farmer.

MP Preneet Kaur mourned the incident and cancelled the scheduled campaigning programmes for Saturday and Sunday. The issue soon snowballed into a political controversy with allegations and counter-allegations flying high.

The MP’s media coordinator, Pritpal Singh Baliawal, shared a video stating: “This is the video of the farmer that fell during protest against Preneet Kaur in Sehra of Patiala district. It is clear through the video that he fell on his own, contrary to the claims of being pushed.”

Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar has expressed grief over the death saying that the BJP stood firmly behind the next of kin of the deceased. Jakhar said the death was tragic and it was sad that certain political parties were trying to exploit the situation by misquoting facts and giving a political colour to the incident.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia was quick to jump into the controversy and shared another video clip on his X handle in which a youngster was seen pushing and shoving farmers.

Majithia blamed both the AAP and BJP for the incident. “The right to protest is a fundamental right in a democracy and resorting to violence against farmers is highly condemnable and unacceptable.”

AAP MLA from Rajpura, Neena Mittal, said that the Chief Minister has been briefed about the incident and assured that police action would be taken as per the statement of the farmers.

Health Minister and AAP candidate from Patiala Dr Balbir Singh condoled the death. Despite repeated attempts, SSP Patiala Varun Sharma could not be contacted for comments.

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