Bad politics at play in Punjab: Harsimrat

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had "promised farmers the moon", but they were not getting even a "spoonful" of all that was pledged during the Assembly polls.
Though she sidestepped question about the present political scenario in Punjab, the Union Food Processing Industries minister said that "bad politics" was at play in the state.
Asked if the Amarinder Singh government was indulging in "vendetta politics" by hitting out at the transport business of the Badals, the family of erstwhile chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, with a new transport policy and fining their bus drivers, she asked why the discussions were moving away from her mega food park projects.

The Union minister was talking to reporters after laying the foundation stone of a Rs 250-crore Sukhjit Mega Food Park at the Rehana Jattan village.
Without referring to Manpreet Singh Badal and Navjot Singh Sidhu, she said, "Two persons are flanking the chief minister and calling the shots. One was expelled from SAD while the other was expelled from the BJP."
Referring to Amarinder's promises of farm loan waivers, non-attachment of property and employment to one member of every family, Harsimrat said, "Lies were told. As for loan waiver, no bank was obeying the government's directive."

Referring to farmers' suicide during the first 100 days of the Congress government, she said the number of death was "much higher" than that in the 10 years of the SAD-BJP government.

Holding that tillers across the country were in distress, the Union minister said not just loan waivers, but value addition and a series of other measures were needed to solve farmers' crisis.
Advocating crop diversification, she said farmers would have to move away from paddy, and take to less water intensive crops to save underground water.
"Farmers will have to take to alternative cropping only if there are buyers for it. The Mega Food Park scheme will help the farmers find buyers," Harsimrat said.
Earlier, addressing a gathering, she declared that her ministry was going to launch three new schemes next week for which Rs 6,000 crore had been earmarked for the welfare of farmers.

"Farmers should turn into agro-industrialists or partner with industrialists for boosting their income and measuring up to present day modern requirements," the Union minister said.
Maintaining that she was first and foremost a "daughter of Punjab" committed to the uplift of the state, Harsimrat disclosed that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, of which her party, SAD, is an ally, would set up 42 mega food parks by 2019.
"After coming to power, our government allotted 17 new food parks, including two for Punjab and most of these have become operational," she said.