Shiromani Akali Dal likely to quit BJP-led NDA over farm Bills

Angered by the passage of two farm Bills in Rajya Sabha, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the over two-decade-old ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is likely to quit the alliance, said sources.

“A decision in his regard will be taken soon. As of now the party is deliberating pros and cons,” said the source on condition of anonymity.

Feeling the heat of the mounting farmers’ protests in Punjab, SAD is left with no choice but to leave the NDA, said a Punjab watcher. “This has now become a matter of prestige for the ranks and file of the SAD, especially after the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal,” said the analyst.

Harsimrat Kaur, the wife of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal,  resigned from the Union Cabinet in protest against the farm Bills on Thursday.

However, her resignation failed to deter the government from going ahead with the Bills. Kaur said she was saddened to realise that her voice was ignored over the farm Bills.

“It is a Catch 22 situation for the SAD…Farmers gheraoed the house of Badals in their village. One of the farmers committed suicide also. What else can they do? If they don’t leave, they will be finished politically,” said Sardar Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, former SAD leader and Rajya Sabha MP.

Dhindsa added, “Imagine the seriousness of the situation...With the number of protesters swelling at Badal village, senior Badal was shifted to his farmhouse at Balasar in Sirsa. The Assembly election is not too far. Badals cannot go to the election with a anti-farmers image. It has become their compulsion now to quit the alliance”.

Asked why the farmers of Punjab and Haryana are, in particular, so roiled by the Bills, Dhindsa said that united Punjab, before Haryana was made a state in 1966, is the largest grain producer of the country.

“The great Green Revolution which changed India’s image on the global stage from a grain importer to a grain exporter took place in our farm lands. We contributed the most in India’s agricultural growth story.  We have paid a heavy price for that. That is why you see farmers of Punjab and Haryana are protesting more than other states,” Dhindsa added.

Led by SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, a delegation of SAD leaders met President Ram Nath Kovid on Monday, requesting him to not give his assent to the farm Bills.

“We requested him to send back the Bills to Parliament,” Badal told the media after meeting the President.

The Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed two controversial farm Bills – Farmers Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill and Farmer’s Produce Trade And Commerce Bill 2020.

The two Bills aim to reform agriculture marketing practices with the abolition of Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMC).

The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Bill 2020 will enable farmers to sell their produce in open markets, at places apart from their designated APMC. The Farmers Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill allows contract farming to the farmers and an amendment to the Essential Commodities Act is aimed at removing stock limits on farm produce.

If SAD quits the NDA, it will be its second oldest ally to quit the BJP-led alliance after Shiv Sena broke its 30-years old alliance with it in 2018 after the Maharashtra Assembly elections. “We may see a repetition of Maharashtra in Punjab in the coming times,” said the Punjab watcher.