New Delhi: Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet today as her party faced heat from farmers in Punjab over its initial support to ally BJP’s farm sector bills. The move came shortly after Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal announced in the Lok Sabha that the minister will quit protesting the Centre’s anti-farmer move. Her husband and party chief Sukhbir Badal said the Akalis will continue to support the government from outside but oppose the “anti-farmer politics”.
Harsimrat Badal is the only SAD representative in the Modi government. The Punjab party is the oldest BJP ally.
Harsimrat Badal tweeted, I have resigned from Union Cabinet in protest against anti-farmer ordinances and legislation. Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter & sister.
I have resigned from Union Cabinet in protest against anti-farmer ordinances and legislation. Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter & sister.
— Harsimrat Kaur Badal (@HarsimratBadal_) September 17, 2020
In his speech during a discussion on two of the farm bills — the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, Sukhbir Singh Badal said the proposed laws will “destroy” the 50 years of hard work put in by successive Punjab governments and farmers to build the agriculture sector.
Three farm sector-related ordinances were cleared by the Union cabinet recently and the corresponding bills were tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday. One of them — the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020 — was taken up for a discussion and passed by a voice vote.
