Withdraw notification on acquiring land or face morcha, says Sukhbir
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday demanded the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to withdraw the notification regarding the acquisition of 24,000 acres of land adjoining the city or be ready to face a ‘morcha’ aimed at securing the rights of aggrieved farmers.
Addressing a massive dharna, ‘Jang Punjab Bachaun Di’, in front of the GLADA office here, which was attended by SAD workers and farmers alike, the SAD president said the party would not allow the AAP government to acquire even one inch of land.
The traffic was affected for around 30 minutes during the protest.
Sukhbir said: “We will not allow AAP conspiracy to rob our farmers of their lands simply to fill party coffers to succeed.”
He made it clear that the SAD would take its agitation to other cities also where farmers were being unfairly ousted from their fertile lands.
Asserting that the SAD had always safeguarded the interests of Punjabis against outsiders, the SAD chief said: “We will not let the AAP leadership, led by Arvind Kejriwal and his lieutenants Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain, to operationalise this scam.”
He said change of land use (CLU) certificates were being offered at Rs 1 crore an acre to keep any chosen area out of the 24,000-acre acquisition. “It shows that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has surrendered completely to the AAP central leadership and now, he is even ready to snatch the precious fertile land of farmers to remain in his chair”.
A farmer representative, Sukhpal Singh, who thanked the SAD president for taking a stand in favour of victim farmers, said: “The AAP government is indulging in a fraud in the name of development. Private colonies close to the land identified for acquisition are yet to be developed. If we succumb to the government’s pressure we will be forced to sell any property given to us under the land pooling scheme at distress rates as the area might take decades to develop. It will spell doom for our future generations.” Amid slogans of ‘Kisan-Mazdoor-Dukaandar Ekta Zindabad’ the farmers expressed their resolve not to let their land be acquired.
Senior SAD leader Balwinder Singh Bhundar appealed to Punjabis to unite to thwart the evil conspiracy from succeeding. Senior leader Ranjit Singh Dhillon said as in the case of the Ludhiana City scam, the SAD cadre was ready to initiate a continuous dharna to secure the right of the farmers.
SAD candidate from the West constituency advocate Parupkar Singh Ghumman was among those others present.
Party looking for Ayali’s alternative in Dakha’
After SAD president Sukhbir Badal termed the lone MLA of the SAD in the state from Dakha Manpreet Ayali a traitor, party insiders said the SAD was now looking for an alternative for Ayali, who can lead the party cadre in the Dakha constituency. Sukhbir also held a meeting with party workers in Chajawal village in the constituency and deliberated upon issues.
Ludhiana