‘If AAP govt doesn’t withdraw land pooling policy, Congress will’: Warring
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today said that his party will take the battle of farmers against the land pooling policy to its logical conclusion and force the government to withdraw it.
The state president is facing resistance from within the party for going soft on the ruling AAP government of the state. He claimed that if the ruling government will not withdraw the controversial policy, then once the Congress government will come to power in 2027, the policy would be immediately scrapped.
Addressing a protest demonstration held here against the policy, Warring said it was the AAP government’s hidden ploy to snatch farmers’ land and obtain loans using that land for its various schemes, which it has failed to implement.
He pointed out that Punjab was already burdened with a debt of over Rs 4.5 lakh crore. He said the AAP was not only pushing the state towards bankruptcy but also trying to forcibly take away 50,000 acres of land from farmers to build concrete jungles.
Seconding the assertion of the All-India Kisan Congress chairman and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira, he said there was neither any demand nor any need for building up any new urban estate anywhere.
Warring said Punjab is an agricultural state and its economy was dependent on agriculture. He added that the state generates about Rs 80,000 crore every year from the agricultural produce. If 50,000 acres of land are taken away, it will badly hit Punjab’s economy further.
The PCC president disclosed that he had raised the matter in the Parliament and urged the Central Government to issue instructions to the state government not to forcibly take away farmers’ land by using the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act passed by the Manmohan Singh government.
Speaking on the occasion, Sukhpal Singh Khaira assured the farmers of full support from the Congress. He said there was no need for this policy and the Congress will not let it be implemented.
Patiala