Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday resigned from the Narendra Modi Cabinet in protest against the agriculture bills tabled in Parliament. 

Harsimrat Kaur Badal submitted her resignation as Union minister to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

“I have resigned from Union Cabinet in protest against anti-farmer ordinances and legislation. Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter & sister,” she said in a tweet.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, while speaking in Lok Sabha, said that Harsimrat will quit the government, however, his party will remain part of the NDA. Harsimrat, who served as Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, was the only member of her party in the Modi government. 

In his speech during a discussion on two of the farm bills – the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, Sukhbir Singh Badal said the proposed laws will “destroy” the 50 years of hard work done by successive Punjab governments to build the farm sector, news agency PTI reported. 

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have been holding protests since last few days against the bills.

The Akali Dal had appealed the Centre to withdraw the decision regarding bringing the bills in the Parliament. The party said that the concerns of the farmers must be addressed before the bills are taken up for discussion. However, with the government remaining firm on its decision, the SAD decided to oppose the move in Parliament.