Harsimrat Badal Quits PM's Cabinet, Farm Bills Clear Lok Sabha

New Delhi, Nation Now

Akali Dal’s lone Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet on Thursday as her party faced heat from farmers over its initial support to ally BJP’s farm sector bills. Ms Badal, who attended the cabinet meet that cleared the bills, stepped down shortly before the bills were passed by the Lok Sabha, tweeting that she was “Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter & sister”. Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal said for now, they would support the government from outside but oppose “anti-farmer policies”. But amid Congress pressure about the continuation of its alliance with the BJP, he said the matter will be decided later at a party meeting.

The oldest ally of the BJP, the Shiromani Akali Dal, will review its membership in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Thursday soon after his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned as a union minister in protest against the government’s agricultural bills that have spurred massive resentment among its all-important voter base of farmers.

“From the Day One when the ordinances were brought into the cabinet, Harsimrat Kaur Badal strongly opposed it and put forward her views that the people of Punjab are concerned with the ordinances. Especially, the farmers should be consulted. But they passed it”.

I have resigned from Union Cabinet in protest against anti-farmer ordinances and legislation. Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter & sister.

— Harsimrat Kaur Badal (@HarsimratBadal_) September 17, 2020

Explaining his party’s initial support to the bills, he said, “Being an ally of the government… Whatever the government thought, we used to convey to the farmers. Whatever the farmers thought we used to convey to the government.”

“We are sad that the government of India brought this bill without a dot of change. You cannot be a part of the government which has not looked into the rights of the farmers. We spent two months trying to convince the government. But now since the bill is done, we cannot go back,” Mr Badal said.

Asked whether the Akali Dal would continue its alliance with the NDA, he said, “We are the founder members of the NDA. But with the situation, our party will meet. We will look at the situation. In our party there is a core committee which takes all the decisions. Let us see what the action is.”

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