Last Updated:
Amidst speculations that AAP is desperate to win the Ludhiana bypoll to possibly pave the way for Arvind Kejriwal to go to the Rajya Sabha, the Punjab government is choosing to cite the loss to industry in Punjab as the reason behind its move
Sources say industrialists in Ludhiana told the top AAP leadership that the party won’t get votes in the upcoming bypoll in Ludhiana if the farmer protests at Shambhu and Khanauri borders continue. (PTI)
Arvind Kejriwal’s Punjab visit, feedback from Ludhiana industrialists to the top Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership, and the upcoming crucial Ludhiana bypoll — all this seems to have been the trigger for the Bhagwant Mann government to take the drastic action of clearing both the farmer protest sites in Punjab after a gap of over a year.
Kejriwal has been on a visit to Punjab this week and was in Ludhiana two days ago. Sources say industrialists in Ludhiana told the top AAP leadership that the party won’t get votes in the upcoming bypoll in Ludhiana if the farmer protests at Shambhu and Khanauri borders continue, since the same are causing heavy losses to the businesses. The sit-in protests have been on for over a year now on the two borders of Punjab, affecting trade and truck movements.
The AAP government in Punjab seems to have done the operation with a plan as it had moved water cannons and police forces to both borders two days back but did not want to pick up the two farmer leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal from the protest site as it could have caused a law-and-order problem.
Instead, Punjab government waited for an opportunity which came its way on Wednesday when both these farmer leaders came to Chandigarh to attend a meeting with three Union ministers — Piyush Goyal, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Prahlad Joshi — over their demands. The meeting was inconclusive but Punjab Police tailed the two farmer leaders as they left for Shambhu. They were detained as soon as they entered the Punjab border before they could reach Shambhu.
Simultaneously, Punjab Police swooped down on the Shambhu and Khanauri borders and detained other farmers who were camping at the sites. The temporary structures put up by the farmers at both protest sites were also swiftly cleared with the help of JCB machines. By late night, both protest sites were clear of all blockades, over a year after farmers had laid siege here.
Both the Congress and the BJP have criticised the step taken by the Bhagwant Mann government, saying farmers were tricked and backstabbed by the Punjab government. However, amidst speculations that AAP is desperate to win the Ludhiana bypoll to possibly pave the way for Arvind Kejriwal to go to the Rajya Sabha, the Punjab government is choosing to cite the loss to industry in Punjab as the reason behind its move.
The farmers can go and lay siege in Delhi and hold protests there instead of in Punjab, since their grouses are mainly with the Centre, Punjab’s finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said.
- Location :
Punjab, India, India
