CM Mann jeopardised Centre-farmer union talks, says Punjab BJP chief

Chandigarh, Feb 20 (IANS) Blaming Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for the failure of talks, state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar on Tuesday said it was most unfortunate that negotiations between the farmers and the central government have not fructified. 

“With Bhagwant Mann himself, of all the people, acting as the lawyer for the farmers, these negotiations were destined to fail because CM Mann had everything to gain from the failure of these talks,” Jakhar wrote on X.

“Not only would he now be able to show the central government in bad light but also redirect those farmers also to Delhi who had initially wanted to march to Chandigarh.

“And sure enough, he has succeeded in this mission by jeopardising the sincere efforts of both the farmers and the central ministerial team to arrive at a solution.”

He further wrote, “Punjab wonders who gave the vakalatnama (authority) to represent the farmers to such a person, who not only backtracked on his promise to provide the MSP (minimum support price) within five minutes of formation of his government but also cheated Punjab farmers out of the compensation for flood damage.”

In another post, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Capt Amarinder wrote he had a detailed meeting with PM Narendra Modi on wide-ranging issues related to Punjab, including the issues concerning farmers.

He expressed confidence that the issue will be resolved soon to everybody’s satisfaction.

Capt Amarinder was accompanying his daughter Jai Inder Kaur, who is President of the state BJP Mahilla Morcha.

A day earlier, farmer unions rejected the Centre’s proposal for buying three pulses, besides cotton and maize, at the MSP. They announced that the ‘Dilli Chalo’ march will proceed on February 21 at 11 a.m.

--IANS

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