AAP's gherao programme a massive flop show: Badal

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today dismissed Aam Aadmi Party's "rally and gherao programme" as "a massive flop show".
He referred to the party's act of betrayel to Punjab in river water issues and their "politics of fraud, deception and cheap stunts."
"Their game is over. It is time for the circus called AAP to fold up their tents and leave, because the people of Punjab, especially our farmers, have spoken out clearly that they are not amused or entertained by the petty songs, vulgar jokes, cheap stunts and gimmicks by the organisers of the AAP circus," the five-time Chief Minister said here.

He alleged that the leaders of AAP in Punjab are remote-controlled by "notorious non-Punjabi actors who were hated by the people in their own states because of their corrupt, criminal and immoral acts".
"These non-Punjabi leaders who are most powerful in that party have no interest in the welfare of the state nor did they understand Punjabi pride in their state and its culture," he alleged.
"Today, the AAP leaders must have found out what Punjabi youth and farmers think about this act of betrayal to Punjab," Badal said.

On the farmers' suicide issue raised by AAP, the Chief Minister said that the phenomenon of farmers' suicides was not only limited to Punjab.

"It is a very critical and complex issue and the only way to address it was to make farming a lucrative profession.
"For this, the best way is to implement the Swaminathan Commission formula of giving farmers MSP with 50 per cent profit over the cost of production," he said.
Claiming that no state in the country can match the SAD-BJP government, he said," We provide free power to farmers. We give interest free loan of Rs 50,000 per crop to every farmer. We also give Rs 50,000 every year to cover for medical expenses to every farmer for their treatment".

"These are only some of the steps we have taken for the welfare of the farmers. Yet, we face farming crisis. This shows that the problem is extremely complex and would have been even more grave if we had not taken these farmer friendly initiatives," he said.
Aam Aadmi Party, which is eyeing to wrest power in next year's Punjab assembly polls, today held protest against the alleged multi-crore food grain scam in the state, and demanded an SIT investigation to probe the issue.
AAP also had plans to 'gherao' the Chief Minister's residence in Chandigarh but were stopped by the heavy police deployed at the Mohali-Chandigarh border.