Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh-
· Alleges secret understanding between two parties
CHANDIGARH, July 28: Alleging that the land pooling policy of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab was apparently being done with the support and patronage of the BJP-led central government, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today said that this policy had given new lease of life to a dying BJP in the state.
“Unless and until there is something more than that meets the eye, why would any government go ahead with such an unpopular move of taking away land from farmers, practically without providing any compensation to them”, he observed in a statement, while suggesting that the AAP was subtly trying to provide a foothold to the BJP in Punjab’s countryside, which otherwise was out of bounds for the saffron party.
Warring said the BJP, which has zero presence in the Punjab countryside, particularly among the peasantry, had joined the protests against the land pooling policy. “Just a few years ago, even during the parliament elections last year, the BJP leaders and candidates were not allowed in the villages due to its anti-farmer policies and now the BJP is trying to plead the farmers cause”, he pointed out, while asking, if this is not providing a fresh lease of life a to a dying BJP in Punjab what else is it.
The PCC president noted that it was a strange irony that while the BJP was trying to make inroads in the rural areas in Punjab, the AAP was being banned and barred from the same villages. “What is the quid pro quo that the AAP is offering space to the BJP?” he asked, while remarking this is the reversal of fate between the two parties, often suspected of playing friendly matches.
Describing the “land pooling policy” as the “land looting policy”, Warring wondered why the AAP picked up such an archaic policy. “In modern times, farmers are offered compensation up to three times of the market prices for the land acquired from them and here the AAP is forcibly taking away their land without any money”, he pointed out.
Blasting the AAP’s claims that the farmers will be benefitted under the assumption that the prices of land will get appreciated with the development, he said, even when the land is acquired for a highway project, the land prices still shoot up. “Does that mean the government should not pay any compensation to the farmers by telling them that the prices of the rest of their land will shoot up after the highway is built and they should feel compensated?” he asked, while serving an ultimatum to the government to cancel the policy or face the mass uprising across Punjab, which may be too difficult for the government to handle.