Chandigarh, September 13
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema termed the letter written by Congress state president Navjot Singh Sidhu to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on the farmers’ issues as a ‘news stunt’, stating that the Congress leaders, especially Navjot Singh Sidhu, are acting as if they are in the Opposition.
In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Monday, Harpal Singh Cheema said that Navjot Sidhu should now stop playing the letter game on the issues of Punjab and the problems of the farmers and should get the issues of Punjab seriously resolved from his government. He said the Congress state president had been reminded of reforms in the agriculture sector, getting the farmers out of the crop cycle along with all the other issues; as the elections approached.
Cheema questioned, “If Navjot Singh Sidhu could not come up with any concrete promise or policy from the ruling Congress in his meeting with the farmers’ leaders, then what did he do there?” He further said if the Aam Aadmi Party leaders could decide to give support on the spot after listening to the views of the farmers during the meeting, why can’t Congress state president Navjot Sidhu do so?
Strongly criticizing Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Harpal Singh Cheema said, “The Chief Minister did not fulfill any of his promises to the farmers; as a result the farmers have to wage struggle against the Punjab government, like against the Union government to get their demands met. Then whether it is a matter of sugarcane price or the procurement of crops from mandis.” He said that Navjot Sidhu gets publicity in the news by writing a letter to the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, but the issue of the farmers remains unresolved. Cheema exhorted Sidhu to give up drama and play the role of leader of the ruling party; otherwise the people of Punjab would never forgive him.
The AAP leader said that Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had lost the trust of his MLAs and Ministers and there were rebellious drills against him within the Congress party. Former Congress state president and MP Shamsher Singh Dullo and MLA Surjit Singh Dhiman along with young MLAs from Majha were opposing the Chief Minister’s working style. “Therefore, Capt Amarinder Singh should immediately resign from the post of Chief Minister,” he added.
