Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday submitted her resignation as Union minister to the PMO in protest against the three farm bills tabled by the Centre in Parliament.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal had earlier announced in Lok Sabha that party leader and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal will quit the Modi government in protest against the farm bills.
In his speech during a discussion on two of the farm bills — the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, Sukhbir Singh Badal said the proposed laws will “destroy” the 50 years of hard work done by successive Punjab governments to build the farm sector.
“I announce that Harsimrat Kaur Badal will resign from the government,” he said in Lok Sabha.
She is the only SAD representative in the Modi government. The Punjab party is the oldest BJP ally.
Haryana farmers are protesting against the Centre’s three Farm ordinances, i.e The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020, which they claim are ‘anti-farmer’.