Charanjit Bhullar
Chandigarh, January 2
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to leave the rigid attitude and open the way for dialogue with the farmers. They refused to hospitalize the farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a death fast for the last 38 days, for treatment. He said that the Center should understand its responsibility in this regard. The Chief Minister also completely rejected the draft of ‘Agricultural Market Policy’ sent by the Central Government. The Chief Minister said that the Prime Minister should give up his stubbornness and take the initiative for dialogue instead of running away from the dialogue.
Addressing the press conference here, the Chief Minister said that the Supreme Court’s decision is a big deal for him. He said that the state government is concerned about the health of Jagjit Singh Dallewal, but they will not take any step that will cause farmers and police to get confused. The Chief Minister said that he himself was working as a bridge between the farmers and the Centre. He said that the central government is talking about sending air ambulance and central force to pick up Dallewal, but is running away from inviting the farmers for talks. He said that the farmers’ demands are related to the Center and the Haryana government is stopping the farmers at the Shambhu Khanuri border. With reference to the ‘Punjab Bandh’ of December 30, the Chief Minister also appealed to the farmers not to take such steps that would cause hardship to the common people. He said that due to ‘Punjab Bandh’, the state government has suffered a loss of one hundred crores.
The Chief Minister spoke to Dallewal on phone
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had a phone conversation with Jagjit Singh Dallewal two days ago and asked about his health. He informed the farmer leader about the efforts being made by the state government. The Chief Minister has appealed to Dallewal not to endanger his health.
BJP’s counter attack on the Chief Minister
BJP’s in-charge of Punjab affairs and former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani hit back at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and said that the responsibility of Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s health is entirely with the state government and the Punjab government is playing politics on it. Senior BJP leader Tarun Chugh said that the Punjab government should understand its responsibility on the issue of agriculture.
