Subramanian Swamy issues first response as Harsimrat quits Modi cabinet: 'Withdraw bill'

Union Minister and SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from the Union Cabinet to protest the two bills related to the agriculture passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday as well as another similar measure passed by the lower house of Parliament on Tuesday. BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Subramanian Swamy asked the Central government to "withdraw the Bill" and "negotiate with allies for a consensus Bill."

'Negotiate will allies for a consensus'

Questioning his own party at the Centre, Dr Swamy asked on Twitter, "How can a Government despite being in majority in Lok Sabha yet forms a coalition called NDA, but does not consult its allies before introducing a Bill in Parliament on a subject concerning farmers?"

Harsimrat Kaur Badal and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal voted against the bills. She was present in the House when the bills were being passed. Kaur submitted her resignation soon after party chief Sukhbir Badal announced in Lok Sabha that she would quit the Union Cabinet in protest against the three farm bills. 

The bills passed on Thursday will replace the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance 2020 issued in June this year.

Reacting to Kaur's resignation, Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh tweeted, "Harsimrat Kaur's decision to quit Union Cabinet is another in the long chain of theatrics being enacted by Akali Dal which has still not quit the ruling coalition. It's motivated not by any concern for farmers but to save their own dwindling political fortunes. Too little too late."

PM Modi on the passage of agrarian reform bills

Meanwhile, Hailing the passage of three farm sector bills in Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday described these proposed legislations as historic and asserted that they will rid farmers and the farm sector of middlemen and other bottlenecks. These reforms will provide new opportunities to farmers to sell their produce and will lead to increased profits for them, he said.

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The three bills will now be tabled in Rajya Sabha and become laws after the Upper House also passes them. They will replace ordinances promulgated by the Union government.

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