CHANDIGARH: Aware of a spate of resignations from the party in Punjab in the wake of protests against new farm laws, the central BJP leadership plans to meet all farmers’ unions on Friday.
Most party leaders who left in a huff have bitterly complained about lack of sensitivity in the Centre towards the farmers’ sentiments.
The dominant feeling is the government should have taken farmers’ opinion before coming out with the laws.
State BJP chief Ashwani Kumar Sharma told this paper that three Punjab BJP leaders — Surjit Kumar Jyani, Harjit Singh Grewal and Bikramjit Singh Cheema — met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday and informed them about the ground reality in the state.
Later, senior BJP leader Surjit Kumar Jyani claimed that three Union ministers, including Rajnath Singh, will hold talks with farmer organisations on November 13 in the national capital.
Former state minister and ex-MLA Surjit Kumar Jyani, who is the chairman of the committee to solve the issue, has accused his party of not listening to the farmers and victimizing them.
“The party leadership should talk to the agitating farmers who have already vacated rail tracks.’’
After meeting the Union ministers, Jyani said, “Rajnath Singh wants to speak to all farmers’ organisations. Once the organizations agree, a formal invitation will be sent to them.’’
In solidarity with the farmers, Punjab BJP general secretary Malwinder Singh Kang resigned from the party a few days back. The party’s youth wing general secretary Barinder Singh Sandhu has also resigned as well.
Last month, representatives of several farmers' organisations from Punjab had walked out of a meeting called by the Union agriculture ministry and accused the government of adopting double standards with no minister present to hear them out.
Farmers in Punjab have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave a way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporates.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in a statement appealed to the farmers' bodies to completely lift their rail blockade to allow passenger trains in view of the "initiative" taken by Centre to discuss their issues.
The CM urged the farmer organisations to take note of the Centre's move to hold talks with them and also take into account the inconvenience being caused to lakhs of Punjabis, including soldiers, who are unable to come home for Diwali due to the suspension of trains.
Ending the rail blockade will facilitate these soldiers and others to join their families in the celebrations, he said.
Amarinder Singh expressed hope that the talks convened by the Centre, scheduled for November 13 as per some media reports, would pave the way for early resolution of the crisis triggered by the central legislations on agriculture.
The move indicated that the Centre was open to finding an amicable solution to the problems facing the farmers in the wake of the enactment of these laws, he said.
The farmers' anger had clearly reached the central government, which seemed to be finally prepared to hear them out, said the CM.
Now that the message that they wanted to communicate through their blockade had reached the Centre, the unions should step back from their agitation and join the talks with the spirit of resolving the issue, he said.
Amarinder Singh said he was confident that the unions would now respond by supporting efforts to ease the situation in the larger interest of all stakeholders.
The only solution to the imbroglio caused by the central legislations lay in peaceful and amicable talks between all concerned, he said, urging the farmer unions to respond with a positive approach.
With PTI inputs