Congress govt used farmers as vote bank: AAP leader

Chandigarh: The Congress government in Punjab never fulfilled promises made to farmers and used them as a vote bank, alleged state AAP MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Sunday.

Sandhwan, who is his party’s farmer wing president, said like former CM Amarinder Singh, the Charanjit Channi-led government neither waived farmers’ debt nor “compensated” them for crop loss.

“The Congress government has never fulfilled its promises made to the farmers and used them only as a vote bank,” he said.

Sandhwan demanded that the Channi government give full compensation to farmers whose crop was damaged by recent showers and pest attack.

He said due to inclement weather, relaxation should be given on moisture content in paddy so that farmers do not have to face hassles in grain markets.

Sandhwan claimed that the government agencies procuring paddy were not lifting the crop on the pretext of high moisture content and farmers were facing a lot of inconvenience.

Sandhwan appealed to the CM to meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to put pressure on the Union government for relaxation in condition regarding moisture content.

Hitting out at the state and Union government, he said they were not paying any heed to farmers’ concerns.

“These governments are limited only to tall claims in the name of the farmers. They have nothing to do with solving the problems of farmers,” he added.