Shiromani Akali Dal
Shiromani Akali Dal quits NDA to protest against farm bills
New Delhi/IBNS: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), one of the oldest allies of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition at the Centre after sharp disagreement over the passage of contentious farm bills approved by Parliament earlier this month, party’s president Sukhbir Singh Badal announced on Saturday.
“Shiromani Akali Dal core committee decides unanimously to pull out of the BJP-led #NDA because of the Centre’s stubborn refusal to give statutory legislative guarantees to protect assured marketing of crops on #MSP and its continued insensitivity to Punjabi and #Sikh issues,” Badal tweeted.
Shiromani Akali Dal core committee decides unanimously to pull out of the BJP-led #NDA because of the Centre’s stubborn refusal to give statutory legislative guarantees to protect assured marketing of crops on #MSP and its continued insensitivity to Punjabi and #Sikh issues. pic.twitter.com/WZGy7EmfFj
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) September 26, 2020
SAD declared its decision days after its leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned on September 17 as the minister of food processing industries from the Union Cabinet, saying she failed to convince the government to not pass the bills, seeking to liberalise agricultural markets.
Sukhbir Singh Badal, the only representative of SAD in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, had said the party will continue to support BJP, but oppose the “anti-farmer policies”.
Shiromani Akali Dal draws a major chunk of its voters from Punjab where farmers’ organisations have waged a massive protest against the bills.
The Narendra Modi government has defended the bills, saying the reforms will rid the agriculture sector of outdated laws and allow farmers to sell their produce to institutional buyers and big retailers such as Walmart.
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