Cong, AAP playing politics over death: Badal

Chandigarh, Apr 21: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today alleged that Congress and AAP were playing politics over death and were "praying for destruction" of farmers of the state for their narrow motives.

Badal asked Congress and AAP to put a brake on their "vulture mentality against Punjab farmers and stop praying for death and destruction so that they could get an opportunity to exploit it". "Please stop playing politics of death in Punjab," the SAD leader was quoted as saying by a party release here.

He claimed the issuance of Cash Credit Limit (CCL) by RBI to facilitate payment to farmers for the procurement of wheat was "a strong vindication" of the stand of the government that not a single grain of wheat was missing from stocks. SAD had yesterday slammed Congress leader Sunil Jakhar for claiming that wheat has "disappeared" from godowns in the state.

The ruling party said if the charges were true, the Reserve Bank of India would not have issued authorisation of CCL of Rs 17,523 crore towards first instalment for the procurement of 90 lakh tonnes of wheat.

Lashing out at Congress and AAP, Badal alleged, "These parties are so desperate for power in Punjab that just in order to show the government in poor light, they went to the extent of organising 'havans' to pray for non-clearance of money to farmers."

"As a rural Punjabi and farmer, I know with what eagerness every member of a farmer's family, from children to elderly parents, waits for the harvest season and how everything in the family depends on a good crop and timely payment.

I could hardly sleep all these days, till CCL was cleared. It was such a huge relief for every farmer and for me personally when it was finally done," the five-time Chief Minister said.

He claimed that "every farmer in the state was upset and angry with Congress and AAP for playing politics even on an issue of life and death for the peasantry." Reacting to Jakhar's comment, Badal said, "I expected at least you, being a farmer, to distance yourself from this vulture-mentality." Punjab goes to Assembly polls in 2017.

PTI