Hours right after Haryana CM Manohar Khattar accused his Punjab counterpart Amarinder Singh of inciting farmers against the 3 lately enacted farm laws, the Punjab chief minister fired back, saying if that was the case then why farmers from his personal state had been also marching to Delhi. Amarinder Singh stated that he was shocked at Khattar’s response and it was farmers who have to be convinced on the minimum assistance value, not him.
“Shocked at your response @mlkhattar ji. It’s the farmers who’ve to be convinced on the MSP, not me. You should’ve tried to talk to them before their #DilliChalo. And if you think I’m inciting farmers then why are Haryana farmers also marching to Delhi?” the Punjab CM stated. “As for endangering lives during COVID19, have you forgotten that it was BJP-led central govt that pushed through those #FarmLaws amid the pandemic, uncaring about the impact they’d have on our farmers? Why didn’t you speak out then,” Amarinder Singh stated.
The war of words involving each the chief minister’s was triggered right after the Haryana government of Khattar stopped thousands of protesting farmers from Punjab at the border. The farmers had been on their way to Delhi for demonstration against the farm laws. The Haryana Police made use of water cannons and tear gas to disperse the farmers. This evoked an angry response from Amarinder Singh who questioned the need to have of stopping farmers from proceeding to Delhi.
“Why is the Haryana govt provoking them by resorting to force? Don’t the farmers have the right to pass peacefully through a public highway?” he asked. He additional stated that the ‘tyrannical use of brute force’ against peacefully protesting farmers is entirely undemocratic and unconstitutional.
To this, Khattar responded saying, “Capt Amarinder ji, I’ve said it earlier and I’m saying it again, I’ll leave politics if there’ll be any trouble on the MSP – therefore, please stop inciting innocent farmers. I’ve been trying to reach out to you for the last 3 days but sadly you decided to stay unreachable – is this how serious you are for farmer’s issues? You’re only tweeting and running away from talks, Why?”
“Time for your Lies, Deception and Propaganda is over – let the people see your real face. Please stop putting the lives of people in danger during the Corona pandemic. I urge you to not play with the lives of the people – at least avoid cheap politics during the time of pandemic,” the Haryana chief minister stated in a series of tweets.