Cong shedding crocodile tears over farmer issue: Badal

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today held Congress responsible for farmers' problems and said the party was shedding crocodile tears over the peasant-issue and its rally in New Delhi was a political gimmick.
"This rally of the Congress is a political gimmick, the sole aim of which is to score brownie points before media rather than solving any problem faced by the farmers," Badal told reporters at the sidelines of a convocation function at Shaheed Bhagat Singh State Technical Campus here.
The five-time Chief Minister said it was a fact that the farmers of the country were facing a number of problems "only due to the regressive policies of the Congress party".

Questioning the Congress' moral right to hold farmers' rally in New Delhi, he said the party was root cause of farmers' agonies so it has no moral right to organise such rally.
Terming as the best in country the 'Punjab model' of land acquisition, he said the farmers in the state had been duly compensated whenever land had been acquired for development purposes.
Ever since assuming power in 2007 we have been pursuing a pro-farmer policy of land acquisition, which is a role model for the entire country, he added.

Batting for opening of trade route through Hussainiwala and Fazilka borders, Badal said though it was an international matter, the state government would make concerted efforts for opening of these borders as it would usher in an era of unprecedented development and prosperity in entire Punjab.

The Chief Minister said since Punjab was a landlocked state, opening trade route through these borders could boost the economic activity in the region.
The list of items currently traded through Attari border (Amritsar) should be brought at par with those traded through Mumbai-Karachi sea route, he added.
Replying to another query, the Chief Minister squarely blamed the previous UPA government for spiralling prices of sand and gravel in the state.
He said the previous UPA government deliberately denied the permission to state government for auctioning the mines in Punjab, resulting in high prices for sand and gravel.
However, Badal said the prices of sand would soon be reduced as the NDA government has now given permission to the state for mining.