New Delhi:Rajya Sabha passed the Farmers' and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, amid protest by opposition MPs on Sunday. Shiromani Akali Dal strongly opposed the bill and termed it as unfortunate.
We are missing Vajpayee touch, voice of opposition is suppressed: Naresh Gujaral Talking exclusively to Etv Bharat, Rajya Sabha MP and Chief whip Shiromani Akali Dal Naresh Gujral called it unfortunate for democracy. Naresh Gujaral on record mentioned that after the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Akali Dal was alloted only 2 minutes to debate on the bill.
Reacting on the chaos and voice vote in the upper house to pass bill Gujral said, "Whatever happened in house is unfortunate for democracy and voice of opposition is suppressed."
The passing of this bill gave a message that the government is anti-farmer. The government is saying that bills will benefit farmers but the so-called beneficiary is saying that it's against my interest. I said in Parliament that either there is a trust deficit or communication gap. They both can be resolved by dialogue. The select committee would have resolved issues by listening to both sides. If required, the changes could be made, he added.
Farmer unions are protesting in Punjab and Haryana. Gujral said that fire will spread in other states. This will not be in the interest of country especially when India and China have border disputes.
Shiromani Akali Dal has urged President to not sign the bills and send it back to Parliament. Reacting on this Gujral said that its a symbolic protest. President will sign bills passed in majority by houses but its a message to farmers that Shiromani Akali Dal stands for their rights.
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Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP alliance was initiated by two stalwarts of Indian politics. In the late '90s after the period of militancy in state Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prakash Singh Badal joined hands. This alliance helped in restoring peace and harmony in the state. Asked about the impact of breaking this alliance on Punjab Gujral said," Basis of this alliance was to restore communal harmony in Punjab. We are fortunate that the Hindu-Sikh community is living peacefully after what happened under the rule of Indira Gandhi. I hope BJP understands these implications."
In past BJP has broken ties with regional parties like PDP, TDP and latest with Shiv Sena. On asking if BJP is trying to get rid of its regional partners Gujrat replied, "We are missing Vajpayee touch. We are missing Arun Jaitley who was a bridge. This attitude after getting absolute majority and not caring about alliance partners will cost them. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi lost after huge majority. This is not a way to run coalition government."
On being asked about future of Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP alliance, Gujral said that party will decide in core committee meeting but whatever will be the decision, it will be taken after consulting people of Punjab and for their benefit.
