Farm leaders Have Destroyed Punjab, BJP Is Sole Viable Option: Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu

Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu said that after Haryana, it is Punjab’s turn to elect BJP into power as farm leaders have destroyed the state.

Jalandhar:BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu launched a scathing attack on farm leaders, accusing some of them of receiving foreign funding. "After Haryana, it is Punjab’s turn to get BJP into power for the sake of the state. Farm leaders here have destroyed Punjab. Haryana voters were wise as they voted BJP to power despite the farm protests," Bittu said.

Farmers have no time for protest but strangely some of them are been funded from abroad, Bittu alleged. "Further, he says even Union Minister Nitin Gadkari wrote a letter to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann regarding the NHAI Projects halted in the state, the farmer leaders are not allowing the progress of Punjab & are blackmailing for their benefit," he added.

Bittu, while flagging off a Valmiki Tirath Yatra to Amritsar Valmiki Tirath said that after testing Congress and AAP, now the people of Punjab should give BJP a chance and vote for the saffron party. "Only the BJP can help and save Punjab by resolving its issues. There was immense agitation by farmers in Haryana as well, but people were wise and still did not allow Congress to make an entry," he said.

Farm leaders have destroyed Punjab completely, Bittu said. "Farmers are facing hardships in mandis, but why aren’t the farm leaders, who speak against the Centre, not speaking up and protesting outside the houses of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal? The Centre has given Rs 44,000 crore but the state govt is failing in procurement,” he said.

Taking a swipe at the Aam Aadmi Party, Bittu said that the party is fragmented in Delhi. "They need to find their alliance now. Other parties have already been tested in Punjab. Now, the BJP is the sole viable option," he said.

This statement comes at a time when farmers, millers and commission agents have called for a 'chakka jam'(deliberately creating a traffic jam as a form of protest) across the state on Sunday for three hours commencing noon in protest against the policies of the state government and the Centre regarding crop procurement and paddy lifting in Punjab.

The decision was taken on Friday in a joint meeting chaired by the agents, millers and farmer organisations in Chandigarh. They unanimously said that the governments haven’t started procuring crops and lifting paddy even after October 1, the beginning of kharif harvest season here.