Badal to take up Pb farmers issue in Guj with BJP high command

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said he will take up the matter pertaining to Punjab farmers who apprehend displacement in the Kutch region in Gujarat, with BJP high command.
During a function to administer oath to newly elected Sarpanchs and Panchs of Bathinda district, the Chief Minister said Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has always stood for safeguarding the interests of Punjabis in general and that of farming community in particular, residing across the globe.
Badal said though the issue pertaining to farmers of Kutch region was pending in the Supreme Court, yet he will take up the matter with BJP President Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to find a solution.

"I will personally take up this issue with both these leaders to ensure the well being of our brethren in Gujarat", he added.
Rapping the state Congress President Partap Singh Bajwa, the Chief Minister said he was misleading people by claiming that the state government had shifted the site of Central University from Gurdaspur to Bathinda.
He said that it was on record that Union government had itself evinced interest in setting up Central University at Bathinda following which the state government had allotted land free of cost.

Badal said that Congress leadership should desist from such "cheap gimmicks" to "score brownie points" in the media, as wise voters of Punjab are aware of their "dubious" character.

Chief Minister also advocated more powers for the CBI so that the premier investigating agency, which has been dubbed as 'caged parrot' by the Apex Court, could perform its duties effectively.
Badal dared the Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Bathinda instead of supporting PPP leader Manpreet Singh Badal.
CM claimed that owing to unprecedented development work done by Lok Sabha MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal in Bathinda even Rahul Gandhi could not defeat her.
Lashing out at Union government for its "anti-farmer" policies, the Chief Minister categorically said "regressive" policies of the Centre have ruined the farmers of the state, who have played a vital role in providing food security to the nation.

On free power, Badal said providing free power to Punjab farmers is a moral responsibility of the state government so as to bail them out from the current crisis prevalent due to escalating cost of farm input.
Badal said if the state government had not extended a "helping hand" to farmers than they would have ruined.