"Not Afraid To Quit": Amarinder Singh's 3 Bills Vs Centre's Farm Laws

"I am not afraid of resigning," Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said today after his government moved a resolution in the state assembly against the contentious farm laws enacted by the centre recently.

"I am not afraid of my government being dismissed. But I will not let the farmers suffer or be ruined," he said in the state assembly.

The resolution was moved by Mr Singh, who is the Leader of the House, on the second day of a special assembly session in Chandigarh over the new farm laws. The Chief Minister also introduced three bills to counter the centre's farm laws.

Punjab is looking to counter the effects of the farm laws in the state level by using state laws as much as possible. The state had become the epicentre of the protests by farmers and political parties against the farm laws. 

"We have stood with you, now it is your turn to stand with us," Mr Singh said today, in an appeal to farmers.

Meanwhile, MLAs of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party last night in the assembly building in protest against the Amarinder Singh government not sharing the draft of a new law on agriculture.

The three bills introduced by Amarinder Singh are - Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment Bill 2020, the Essential Commodities (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill 2020.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, who too is in the opposition in the state, said the bill should have been introduced in the Punjab assembly on Monday itself.

All three controversial farm bills that were at the centre of a huge political storm and cost the ruling BJP its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal, became laws on September 29 with the signature of President Ram Nath Kovind. While critics say  farmers will lose bargaining powers with the entry of private players into the agricultural sector and they won't get a minimum support price for their produce, the government has said the new laws will help small and marginal farmers.

While critics say  farmers will lose bargaining powers with the entry of private players into the agricultural sector and they won't get a minimum support price for their produce, the centre has said the new laws will help small and marginal farmers.