Sampla slams AAP govt over tardy procurement, condemns lathi-charge on farmers at Bathinda

Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Vijay Sampla launched a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government during a press conference here today, accusing it of failing to address the pressing issues surrounding paddy procurement.

He also condemned the lathi-charge on agitating farmers in Raike Kalan, Bathinda, who had been demanding paddy procurement from the grain markets across the state.

Addressing mediapersons, Sampla said the AAP-led Punjab government was taking revenge from farmers for it's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

He said due to the poor management on the part of the government, farmers were being forced to die by suicide. On November 5, farmer Jaswinder Singh from Nadampur, Bhawanigarh, district Sangrur, died by suicide as he was unable to sell paddy produce on the MSP rate. He had been awaiting in a mandi to sell his produce for the past one week and had ended up without celebrating Diwali as he could not sell anything.

“Instead of visiting the residence of the bereaved family in Sangrur, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal preferred to spend his time in Ludhiana with newly elected sarpanches”, said Sampla. He added that it would have taken just 20 minutes to cover the distance from Ludhiana to Sangrur using government aircraft, which was also put to use by Kejriwal during Jammu and Kashmir elections.

Sampla said before the Lok Sabha elections, AAP had sponsored farmer agitation on the Shambhu border. AAP had wanted farmers to pay back in the LS elections.

However, AAP faced debacle by losing 10 Lok Sabha seats out of 13 and is now angry with farmers. To avenge its defeat in the Lok Sabha, the party was now bothering farmers.

Sampla said despite the Centre having released Rs 44,000 crore for smooth procurement, the state government had failed to ensure procurement. He added that it was the first time ever that farmers were facing acute distress and had resorted to die by suicide.

Raising the issue of acute shortage of DAP for sowing wheat, Sampla said none of the neighbouring states like Haryana and Rajasthan were facing this paucity of DAP. He added that due to the lack of vision and poor governance, the agriculture sector was suffering severe setbacks.