Chandigarh: Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has accused the BJP of providing protection to gangsters and attempting to defame the state’s farmers. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that gangster Lawrence was being treated like a state guest in a BJP-ruled state.
Cheema said gangsters were allegedly being used to make threatening calls and intimidate people in states such as Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, where opposition parties are in power, to further political interests.
He said Punjab Police had arrested several notorious gangsters and that they would be punished under Indian law. Cheema added that the government aimed to eliminate gangsters allegedly created and nurtured by the BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal.
Alleges retaliation over farmers’ protest
Accusing the BJP of being anti-Punjab and anti-farmer, Cheema said the party left no opportunity to malign Punjab’s farmers. He pointed out that paddy is also cultivated in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, yet the same level of controversy was not seen there.
He said smoke from stubble burning could be seen across areas extending nearly 300 km from Punjab, but farmers from the state were being singled out.
Cheema alleged that Punjab’s farmers had played a major role in the protest against the now-repealed farm laws and that attempts to defame them were being made as retaliation for their participation in the movement.
Questions BJP’s claims on stubble-burning smoke
The state government rejected BJP leader Kapil Mishra’s allegations, calling them entirely false.
Cheema questioned which parties were in power in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and asked whether smoke from stubble burning in Haryana somehow travelled to Pakistan while smoke from Punjab crossed Haryana to reach Delhi.
“Are separate routes being assigned to smoke as well?” he asked.
He further questioned whether smoke was being transported to Delhi in sacks or vehicles from areas 300 km away, and whether paddy was cultivated and stubble burned only in Punjab, rather than in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.
Cheema said the Punjab government had provided farmers with the necessary equipment for stubble management over the past five years.
