On August 4, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Congress leader Ravneet Singh Bittu had a face-off outside Parliament building over the three Farm Laws that were enacted in September 2020. In a video shared by News agency ANI, Bittu was seen blaming Kaur for supporting central government over the bills while she was a union minister.
#WATCH | Delhi: A verbal spat broke out between Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu over Central Government’s three Farm Laws. pic.twitter.com/y9oAykOzy1
— ANI (@ANI) August 4, 2021
The spat between the two leaders started when Bittu noticed Kaur staging protests against the three Agriculture laws. He approached her and called her out for her alleged “fake protest”. He said when the bills were passed in the Parliament in September 2020, Kaur was a union minister. She, along with other leaders from the Badal family, did not do anything to stop the laws. He said, “For two months, your party was supporting the laws. Why are you faking a protest now.”
The argument over Badal’s resignation
During the spat, Bittu kept claiming that Kaur resigned from her post only after the bills were passed in the Parliament. Notably, she had announced her retirement a few hours after the bills were passed in Lok Sabha. The Agriculture Bills were passed by the Rajya Sabha on September 20, 2020, three days after they were passed in Lok Sabha.
While denying the allegations raised by Bittu, Kaur said that Congress Party’s Rahul Gandhi was not present in the Parliament when the laws were passed. She further added that the Congress Party helped in the passage of the bills in Lok Sabha by walking out during the discussion. Meanwhile, Kaur kept raising slogans urging the government to take back the Agriculture laws.
The question over absence of Sukhbir Badal
Bittu questioned the absence of Akali MP Sukhbir Singh Badal from the Parliament. He said for two months, Sukhbir Singh Badal kept speaking in favour of the Agriculture laws. “Even now, he is absent from the Parliament. Ask them where is Akali president Sukhbir Singh Badal? Why has he not come to Parliament for five days? He is doing press conferences in Punjab,” he said and walked into the Parliament.
Kaur’s protest against Agriculture laws
For the last few days, Harsimrat Kaur has been staging a protest outside Parliament urging opposition leaders to join her quest to force the government to repeal the farm laws. On July 31, she had given a statement that she had approached leaders from Congress, TMC, and DMK to support her raising voice against the laws, but no one paid heed to her request. “I approached leaders from Congress, TMC & DMK to raise issues together. But it is sad that no one has bothered to show up today. Till the time the opposition will not unite, the government will continue to benefit,” she said.
Delhi | I approached leaders from Congress, TMC & DMK to raise issues together. But it is sad that no one has bothered to show up today. Till the time the opposition will not unite, the government will continue to benefit: Harsimrat Kaur, leader, Shiromani Akali Dal leader pic.twitter.com/UPxK1ScCqF
— ANI (@ANI) July 31, 2021
Kaur had given the statement after meeting President Ram Nath Kovind over the laws. As per the reports, she had led a delegation of SAD, including members of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and submitted a memorandum to the President requesting him to take action in the matter.
