Chandigarh, March 4 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday demanded the release of farmer leaders who were arrested at the instance of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and also asked him to apologise for threatening and misbehaving with them.
Expressing shock at the manner in which leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), who had been invited for talks by the Chief Minister on Monday, were being treated, Majithia said: "Mr Bhagwant Mann threatened the kisan leaders with dire consequences when he was reminded of the promises he had made to farmers before assuming charge as Chief Minister in 2022."
He said this was followed up with raids and arrests of farmer leaders in a pre-dawn swoop on Tuesday in a bid to foil the weeklong protest announced by them in Chandigarh from March 5.
Asserting that the Chief Minister’s consistent erratic behaviour was spoiling the image of Punjab and Punjabis, Majithia said in a statement that "recently during a visit to Hoshiarpur the Chief Minister misbehaved with an IPS officer, besides speaking rudely with the Deputy Commissioner".
"His earlier acts of instability are well documented including his drunken antics onboard a Lufthansa plane from which he was deboarded."
Reminding Mann about the promises made by him to farmers, the Akali leader said: "Mann assured farmers and farm labourers that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would remodel farm policies to ensure no farm suicide occurred in the state."
The Chief Minister also assured farmers that farm income would be doubled and that his government would implement the M.S. Swaminathan Report whether the Centre did that or not. Farmers were also assured that every crop would be procured by the state on minimum support price (MSP), he noted.
Asserting that the Chief Minister had reneged on each and every promise made to the farmers, Majithia said: "When he was reminded of these promises he started threatening the farmers and walked out of the meeting rather than face them."
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