Sukhbir Badal Criticizes Punjab Government Over Farmer Arrests

Former SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal criticized Punjab's Bhagwant Mann government for arresting farmers demanding legal MSP guarantees. Badal accused the AAP government of neglecting their promises. Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia and other farmer leaders also condemned the arrests, highlighting government betrayal and calling for public support against oppressive actions.

In a sharp rebuke against Punjab's political leadership, former Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal condemned the Bhagwant Mann-led government for the arrest of farmers at the Shambhu border, where they were protesting for legal assurances on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.

Badal, previously Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister, accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of turning a deaf ear to farmers' demands despite earlier promises of MSP, calling their detention a "forcible abduction". He urged the government to release the farmers and heed their demands.

Joining the chorus of criticism, Indian Olympic medallist and Kisan Congress Working President Bajrang Punia attacked the administration, describing the arrests as a mockery of dialogue and a betrayal. He, along with other leaders like Rakesh Tikait, decried the police's controversial detentions, as tensions spiked at the protest site.

In an escalation of tactics, Haryana Police employed bulldozers to dismantle barricades that had limited farmers' movement, while Punjab Police also cleared protestors from the area. Authorities maintained roads would be reopened for traffic without force, noting that some protestors voluntarily left the site.

(With inputs from agencies.)