An angry outburst by Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh against the farmers over continued protests in the state has left many in the party and government baffled, triggering questions over whether there was more to it than just the ‘fiscal distress’.
The opposition has flayed the chief minister for his statement with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal accusing him of siding with the BJP. “He is BJP’s swatantar fauji,” Badal said. Similar statements have come from AAP calling him BJPs ‘B team’.
But what really provoked the chief minister to take the farmer leaders head-on, particularly when the crucial assembly elections are just some months away? While the economic disruption caused by the continued farmers stir is being cited as the main reason, his statement is being looked at through the political prism as well.
The ‘fiscal distress’ has been weighing on Singh’s mind since March 2020 when the BCCI inexplicably ruled out Mohali as one of the venues for the Indian Premier League. Though some quarters had cited increasing Covid cases as the reason but choosing Mumbai, which also had a high incidence of cases, had raised eyebrows. This led to the belief that the farmers’ protest had played an important role in the BCCI decision.
An aghast chief minister, upset with not just the state losing out on millions but an image wreck, had tried to convince BCCI but without any success. Much water has flown under the bridge since then with farmers trenched in Delhi, Haryana and 113 locations in Punjab protesting against the farm laws.
Observers believe there could be political reasons as well for the outburst. Sources say that the chief minister was upset at the conflicting signals emerging from the top leadership of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. While the morcha maintains that its fight against farm laws was apolitical, the statement of leaders like Gurnam Singh Charuni that farmers should contest elections has upset political leaders including the Punjab chief minister.
“He believes that there could be political forces behind some farmer leaders and these forces were trying to undermine his government,” revealed a source in the party. Party leaders close to Singh fear that the continued dharnas by farmers were ‘vulnerable’ to political manipulation. “Notwithstanding the claims by farmers leaders, opposition parties are using these dharnas to further their political ambitions,” said a senior party leader. Interestingly, senior minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who is seen as part of anti-captain lobby, has also backed the chief minister’s statement.
Singh had even expressed his dismay over the reaction of the farmer leaders over his statement, fanning further his fears that some ‘elements’ within the farmer leadership were nurturing a political agenda.
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