New Delhi: As a protest against farm ordinances which are now bills, Harsimrat Kaur Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal resigned from Union Council of Ministers. The resignation has been accepted by the President and Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar, who has been given additional charge of Ministry of Food Processing.
Talking exclusively to ETV Bharat, Shiromani Akali Dal president, Sukhbir Singh Badal said, "This alliance is important for Punjab but we have our ideology. We stand for farmers and if our concerns are not addressed why to continue in the cabinet."
Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance is one of the oldest in NDA initiated by Prakash Singh Badal and Atal Bihari Vajpayee in late '90s. It played a major role in uniting Hindu and Sikh communities in Punjab.
Union Minister for agriculture Narendra Tomar had written a letter to Sukhbir Singh Badal and assured him about MSP. On asking why despite an assurance Akali Dal decided to quit out of cabinet Sukhbir Badal said, "We showed the letter to farmers but they wanted MSP portion to be included in the bill which was not added. Farmers were not satisfied with written assurance but wanted it in the bill. This was not done so we decided to quit. We were not consulted before the final draft of the bill but Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh was part of the committee as informed by the minister on record in Parliament."
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On Captain Amarinder Singh's 'too little too late' remark on Harsimrat Kaur Badal's resignation, Sukhbir Badal said, "we don't need a certificate from Captain Amarinder. The same ordinances were introduced by Captain Amarinder Singh government earlier and were part of their manifesto. We also opposed the exclusion of Muslims in CAA and we oppose these bills. It's about party principles."
Shiromani Akali is ready for any sacrifice for farmers. Be it going to jail or about alliance which core committee will decide.
