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‘Not afraid of resigning’: Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh presents draft resolution against farm laws

‘I am not afraid of my government being dismissed. But I will not let the farmers suffer or be ruined,’ he said in the state assembly.

‘Not afraid of resigning’: Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh presents draft resolution against farm laws

Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh. (File Photo: SNS)

The tussle between the Punjab government and Centre over the contentious three farm Acts continues as the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday presented in the Vidhan Sabha a draft resolution against the alleged ‘anti-farmer’ laws

He also proposed Electricity Amendment Bill, with an appeal to all parties to rise above political interests in the spirit of saving the state.

“I am not afraid of resigning,” Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said today after his government moved a resolution in the state assembly.

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“I am not afraid of my government being dismissed. But I will not let the farmers suffer or be ruined,” he said in the state assembly.

The draft resolution seeks annulment of the contentious agricultural bills and the proposed Electricity Bill, as well as promulgation of “a fresh ordinance making the procurement of food grains on the Minimum Support Price [MSP] a statutory right of the farmers and continue with procurement by Government of India through FCI and other such agencies.”

On the first day of the special Assembly session convened to counter the Centre’s farm laws, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday led the House in paying homage to all farmers who have lost their lives during the ongoing agitation in protest against the Narendra Modi government’s “draconian” agricultural laws.

The House was adjourned for an hour after paying tributes to Shaurya Chakra awardee Balwinder Singh Sandhu of Tarn Taran, lance naik Karnail Singh, besides freedom fighters Mahinder Singh, Sardar Singh, Rai Singh Patanga and Hemraj Mittal, who passed away recently. The session resumed around noon but was adjourned for the day after adopting a resolution to extend the duration of the special session by a day.

The Punjab Cabinet on Sunday authorised Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to introduce the Bill to counter the Centre’s three “anti-farmers” agri laws. It would be presented in the House for approval today.

The AAP MLAs staged a dharna in the Well of the House, demanding copies of the Bill against the farm laws to be tabled in the Assembly. SAD leader Bikram Majithia told reporters that they chose a tractor as a vehicle associated with farmers to mark their protest against the farm laws. Before going into the House, Akalis burnt copies of farm laws outside the Assembly.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Congress’s chief Sunil Jakhar said the Punjab Assembly should pass a unanimous resolution condemning the humiliating treatment meted out to the farmers representatives by the Modi government. “In doing so BJP has insulted not just the farming community but Punjab itself,” he said in a tweet.

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