You know why the farmers’ stir is all about politics when everybody is falling over each other to take credit and support their cause.
With Punjab elections due in 2022, the eagerness of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh should be obvious to everyone. But so is the attempt by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which has failed in its attempt to make inroads into neighbouring Punjab but which nevertheless is determined to spread its domain beyond Delhi.
Now Kejriwal has hit out rather openly against Amarinder Singh. He says that his Punjab counterpart is upset with him because his AAP government has not converted nine stadiums in the Capital into “open jails.”
Just to give readers the background, agitating farmers had refused the offer of Centre to occupy a definte venue rather than block public roads and places, from where they could negotiate with the Centre. But the farmers had flatly refused the offer, terming it as “open jails” and Kejriwal was quick to play his part by refusing permission of Delhi Police—which falls under the Centre—to convert stadiums into a venue for farmers to assemble.
Kejriwal hasn’t stopped at this. He said that prime minister Narendra Modi and Amarinder Singh were on the same page.
“The Punjab Chief Minister has made allegation against me that I have passed the black laws in Delhi. How can he do such a low level politics in this fragile situation?” Kejriwal said.
“The reason behind Captain Sahab’s allegation is that we did not allow the nine stadiums in Delhi to be converted into jails,” he said.
The Congress and AAP have been making accusations against one another after some media reports that the Delhi government has actually notified the farm laws passed by the Centre in the assembly—and it was highlighted by the Congress.
In his comments about Kejriwal, Amarinder Singh had said: “Do they have no shame? They failed to pass any amendment in the Delhi assembly to negate the Central laws.” This showed the AAP intents clearly, he added.
On Tuesday, AAP’s Punjab unit (part of the opposition in that state) had said that the BJP and Singh “had joined hands to make false allegations” against the Delhi government.
