SAD against bills due to political compulsions but it isn’t against NDA: BJP’s Punjab incharge

New Delhi: BJP’s Punjab incharge Prabhat Jha told ET that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) took the decision of withdrawing from the Union Cabinet due to its “political compulsions” and that it is opposed to the farm bills but not the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Jha, a national vice president of BJP who has been incharge since 2015, said the party will run a village-to-village campaign in Punjab to educate farmers about the farm bills passed by the Centre and how they will prove advantageous for them. “BJP believes these bills are for the benefit of farmers. SAD believes these bills are anti-farmer. Hence, they took the decision of withdrawing from the Union Cabinet which could be due to their political compulsions as they may have felt that farmers are agitating. SAD is against the bills but it is not against NDA,” he said.

He termed a question on SAD’s withdrawal from NDA “hypothetical” and stressed that “there is no question of withdrawal or changes in the agriculture bills”.

Jha said BJP will convince farmers that the bills are in their interest. “We are sure the farmers will realise soon that the bills are to their advantage,” he said. SAD’s Rajya Sabha member Naresh Gujral had earlier told ET that the party would take a call on remaining in the NDA in a week’s time after taking feedback from its cadre. The party has also called for protests against the bills.

Former Punjab Cabinet minister of BJP, Madan Mohan Mittal, however said SAD can go alone in the 2022 elections if it wants and that BJP would be ready with candidates on all 117 seats in the state.

Another BJP leader in Punjab said this was BJP’s chance to go alone and capture electoral ground in Punjab.