Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Friday charged the BJP with trying to divide society on caste lines to promote their political interests, and asserted that he would not allow them to impose their “vicious agenda” on the state.
“I will not let them disturb the peaceful atmosphere of Punjab at any cost,” he declared, pointing to the BJP’s futile attempt to take out a “Dalit Insaf Yatra” on Thursday without taking due permissions.
These divisive tactics will never succeed in Punjab, whose people are happily living together for their collective progress, he added.
The BJP, said Amarinder Singh, had “no moral right to talk about Dalit rights, which they had been brazenly trampling wherever they were in power”, citing statistics that showed that Uttar Pradesh, under the BJP rule, accounts for over 25 per cent of the total cases of atrocities against SC people in the country, and had recorded the highest number of such incidents in 2018.
“Is this your definition of justice for Dalits? Is this what you are offering the SC people of Punjab?” he asked the BJP.
The Chief Minister said the BJP, finding itself totally cornered over the “draconian, anti-farmer and unconstitutional” farm laws, was indulging in theatrics and mis-propaganda with the sole motive of diverting public attention.
The fact is that the party has completely failed the farmers and also the SC students, whom its national leadership had deprived of access to higher education by abruptly withdrawing the Central post-matric scholarship scheme, he added.