Chandigarh, Nov 9 (PTI) Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday attacked the BJP on stubble burning issue, alleging that it was sparing no effort to defame state’s farmers.
He also dubbed as “lies” Delhi minister Kapil Mishra’s claims that Punjab farmers have alleged that their fields were deliberately being set on fire while they were celebrating Diwali.
Speaking to reporters here, Cheema alleged that the BJP has spared no effort to defame Punjab farmers and said the AAP-ruled state is unfairly blamed for Delhi’s pollution whereas the national capital is surrounded by states like Haryana and UP.
Punjab witnessed its sharpest single-day spike in paddy stubble-burning incidents this season on Diwali with 1,152 fresh farm fires, which pushed the state’s total count to 4,459 from 3,307 on November 7, according to official data.
Cheema was also asked to comment on Delhi minister Mishra alleging that a sudden spike in stubble-burning incidents in Punjab on Diwali was suspicious.
On Mishra claiming that his office and other government representatives received calls from Punjab, with farmers claiming that their fields were deliberately being set on fire while they were celebrating Diwali with their families, AAP leader Cheema said that Mishra was lying.
“Kapil Mishra is lying,” he said.
Cheema also took on the BJP on gangster issue, alleging it has “nurtured” gangsters and has kept gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is lodged in a jail in Gujarat, like a “state guest”.
“Wherever the BJP is in power, it has nurtured gangsters. The objective is to send these gangsters in states governed by the opposition to disrupt law and order,” the AAP leader alleged.
Referring to Bishnoi, Cheema said the entire country is aware of the individual currently held in Guajarat’s Sabarmati Jail, who is being “used to issue constant threats, thereby intimidating and terrorising opposition-ruled states”.
“Lawrence Bishnoi has been kept like a state guest by the BJP…,” he alleged.
“Whether it is Punjab, Himachal, or any other state where opposition (non-BJP) parties are in power, BJP people carry out their agendas by leveraging these gangsters and anti-social elements, using them to make threat calls, instill fear, and coerce others,” he said.
Lashing out at BJP on the stubble burning issue, Cheema alleged they left no stone unturned in defaming Punjab.
Between Punjab and Delhi, more than 300 km stretch of Haryana falls where there seems to be no activity. Uttar Pradesh which covers Delhi from various sides, but there is nothing there too, he said.
“They are deliberately defaming Punjab farmers because they fought a long-drawn battle forcing the Centre to rollback the three black farm laws. Now, the BJP is taking revenge for this,” Cheema claimed.
“They (BJP) say Punjab’s smoke directly reaches Delhi. I want to ask that does Haryana’s smoke go to Pakistan…has separate route been given for the smoke to cover 300-km stretch,” he said.
Is Punjab the only paddy producing state, the AAP minister asked, while claiming that Punjab’s farm fires are comparatively far less than what they used to be until a few years back.
He said the Punjab government has taken all steps to encourage farmers not to burn stubble which include providing modern machinery and equipment for stubble management.
He also alleged that the BJP is defaming the state as it has seen that people of Punjab are not going to vote for them in the upcoming polls.
On the gangster issue, Cheema said that the Bhagwant Mann government has initiated big action against gangsters ever since it came to power.
Cheema said that sustained efforts by the Punjab Police has resulted in many gangsters being deported over the past few years.
Talking about proclaimed offenders, he said that from January till November 7, 2,161 of these have been nabbed.
Cheema said just a few days ago, the state police secured the deportation of wanted gangster Gurwinder alias Afridi from Ethiopia following a 10-month international manhunt.
He also named few other gangsters who have been brought back from foreign soil due to persistent efforts of the Punjab Police and make them face the law of the land.
Lashing out at previous governments, Cheema said the AAP government has been highly successful in apprehending the very gangsters who were “nurtured” by the Akali Dal-BJP and the Congress dispensations. PTI SUN VSD KVK
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