Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday accused the Narendra Modi-led BJP administration at the Centre of trying to stifle the voice of the farmers and of also being tyrannical. The veteran leader, Badal, a former ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) requested the Prime Minister to listen to the farmers.

Badal in a press conference on Saturday stated, “Unfortunate that Centre’s trying to stifle the voices, instead of listening to them. Farmers don’t want Farm Laws,” as per ANI report.

He further questioned the Narendra Modi administration, asking, “Why is the Centre showing tyranny when the section -for whom laws have been formed- don’t want it?”

Badal added, “I request PM to listen to farmers.”

The 58-year-old Badal accused the Centre of trying to malign the farmers protest by presenting it as a confluence of Khalistanis and by calling it politically-motivated. He further alleged that the Centre labels anyone who disagrees with them as anti-national. The President of India’s second oldest party, Badal said, Centre’s trying to defame agitation by calling it that of Khalistanis & political parties. Unfortunate that if one disagrees with them they call them anti-nationals.” 

He lashed out at minister’s labelling protestors as anti-national by saying, “Ministers giving such statements must apologise publicly. We condemn the Centre’s attitude & such statements.”

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The Shiromani Akali Dal quit the National Democratic Alliance(NDA) over the farm bills on September 26.

Earlier in September Badal had said, “The highest decision-making body of the Shiromani Akali Dal core committee at its emergency meeting decided unanimously to pull out of the BJP -led NDA alliance.”

He had added that the decision to quit the Narendra Modi-led coalition was  “because of the centre’s stubborn refusal to give statutory legislative guarantees to protect assured marketing of farmers crops on MSP (Minimum Support Price) and its continued insensitivity to Punjabi and Sikh issues like excluding Punjabi language as an official language in Jammu and Kashmir.”

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, a member of Shiromani Akali Dal Party, had also resigned as Union Minister in protest against the farm bills.

Earlier another NDA ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, had threatened to quit the coalition for the respect of farmers.

RLD leader Hanuman Beniwal began a demonstration march towards Delhi protesting against the farm laws on Saturday.

The ‘Delhi Chalo’ farmers’ protests entered its 17th day on Saturday. 

The farmers, agitating against the three new farm laws passed by the government in September, intend to block the Delhi-Jaipur highway on Saturday, farmer leaders had stated on Wednesday while rejecting Centre’s proposal. 

Farmer leaders have also announced their decision to stage a sit-in protest outside the headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party and in front of houses of BJP leaders on December 14. 

Also Read: Rashtriya Loktantrik Party leader Hanuman Beniwal begins march towards Delhi, says ready to quit NDA

Several opposition parties have also expressed their support for the protesting farmers. The government however has remained steadfast on their belief of the laws being beneficial to the farmers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the new agricultural reforms a watershed moment in the history of the country, adding that the reforms were necessary.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has requested farmers to quit the protests and has urged them to come to the discussion table.