Thousands of farmers have gathered at Delhi's Burari ground in protest against the Centre's contentiously passed farm laws however, on the other side, CM of neighboring states have indulged in a war of words.
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday has lashed out at his Haryana counterpart during an exclusive interview to CNN-News18 and said the farmers are his people and it is his duty to stand united with them during these hard times. He quashed the allegation leveled on him by Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and said:
"Who cares about what Khattar says? These protests were spontaneous. He is leveling allegations on us because he has failed. He is shooting his gun by placing it on my shoulders," he added.
Punjab CM further noted that the state farmers were scared of losing their lands and an archaic system as they do not know how to work with industrialists. Although it has been assured by the Centre govt that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of their products will not end, the farmers want a legal assurance, he said.
"What is the issue in putting in a clause for MSP? Why cant they say that MSP will be protected and that the mandi system will be protected...what is the problem here?" he added.
When Capt was asked about the allegations leveled on him by CM Khattar, he said he would not speak to the latter until he apologizes to the farmers, who were attacked by the state's police.
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"Why is he stopping our farmers? Why did he have to fire gas at them? I have spoken to PM and the Agriculture Minister, so why can’t I speak to Khattar? He has failed and is now blaming me for this," he said.
Lashing out at Khattar for his failure to handle the situation, Singh said that the Haryana chief minister was speaking lies and he did not receive any call or message from the latter.
"No matter how bad the situation is, it will only end with a negotiation. The government knew that they were coming to Delhi, they could have resolved this matter," he added.
News of 'unwanted elements', Khalistani interferences in protests has also been denounced by Punjab CM.
"Am I a Khalistani? When they are not able to deal with a problem, they start blaming others...these allegations (of interference) are all wrong."
"No political party is involved in the protests. These farmers belong to Haryana and Punjab. I know which groups have marched from Punjab but Khattar clearly does not know what is happening with farmers from his state. We would like to have a resolution. I don't want my farmer to freeze and suffer," he said clearing the air over Khattar's blame that political parties are backing the protests.