Will take BJP, its allies to court over 'unconstitutional' farm laws: Amarinder

“They (BJP and its allies) clearly don't care for what these laws will do to the farmers,” he said, flaying the BJP-led government for “selling” farmers’ interests to big corporates. Amid an uproar by the opposition, Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday said his government would take the BJP and its allies, including the Akalis, to court over the new “unconstitutional, undemocratic and anti-farmer” laws of the central government. He said he would fight till his last breath to protect the farmers’ interests in the state.

“We will move the court and fight the draconian legislations as soon as they get the presidential nod and become the law of the land,” he said. Singh expressed shock at the way the BJP-led Union government “brute-forced” the agriculture Bills through the Rajya Sabha.

The CM questioned the rationale behind putting the “controversial and vicious” Bills, which, he said, was a “blatant encroachment” of the state's powers and control of the agriculture sector, to voice vote, despite strong reservations by the Opposition and inadequate numbers in the House. Why did the House not go for division of votes on this critical issue, which has even divided the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), he asked. He said his government will not allow the central government, of which the SAD “shamelessly” continues to be a part, to “trample” the rights and interests of farmers through these “cruel” legislations designed to “destroy” the farming community, and Punjab state for which agriculture is its lifeline. “We stand with the farmers and will do whatever it takes to protect their interests,” he said in a statement here. “They (BJP and its allies) clearly don't care for what these laws will do to the farmers,” he said, flaying the BJP-led government for “selling” farmers’ interests to big corporates.

Amid an uproar by the opposition, Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020. They were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday. A third bill is yet to be passed in Rajya Sabha.

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