As Punjab’s procurement crisis deepens, Punjab’s Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa has called out what he describes as a “dangerous charade” orchestrated by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre. Bajwa accused both parties of colluding to undermine Punjab’s agricultural backbone, leaving farmers on the brink of despair, with a bleak “Black Diwali” looming over the state. Despite a high-profile meeting, held on October 14, between Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Union Minister Ravneet Bittu, and Union Food Minister Prahlad Joshi, the crisis remains unaddressed, exposing the hollowness of their so-called cooperative assurances.
“How can two political entities display such camaraderie and then attempt to scapegoat each other for their shared failures?” Bajwa questioned. “This isn’t governance; it’s a well-rehearsed act designed to shield both sides from accountability while Punjab’s farmers languish in mandis, with delayed procurement.” Bajwa called on AAP and BJP to take responsibility for Punjab’s worsening agricultural crisis rather than engaging in theatrics. “Farmers in Punjab need leaders who govern, not actors who perform,” he concluded. “These empty gestures do nothing to relieve the distress and uncertainty gripping Punjab’s mandis. It’s time for both AAP and BJP to recognize their shared accountability and address the crisis head-on.”
Commenting on today’s AAP protest in Chandigarh, Bajwa dismissed the event as political theater, staged to deflect from AAP’s own failures in Punjab. “This wasn’t about championing farmers’ rights,” Bajwa remarked. “It was a calculated performance aimed at creating optics, distracting the public from AAP’s own complicity in Punjab’s agrarian distress.”
Bajwa highlighted an impending storage crisis, with godowns already brimming from existing stocks. The arrival of an additional 185 lakh metric tons of paddy threatens to overwhelm storage capacity, making the procurement process near impossible. Despite CM Mann’s assurances of clearing storage by March 31, Bajwa questioned the feasibility of this promise, noting that four months is insufficient to accommodate the incoming paddy yield. “Our farmers deserve more than empty promises—they deserve decisive action,” he stated.
The senior Congress leader pointed to a major financial blow for farmers who had planted the government-recommended PR-126 paddy variety, only to find it yields less OTR per quintal than traditional varieties. This shortfall has caused rice millers to refuse processing without compensation, resulting in a Rs 6,000 crore projected loss. To offset these losses, the Punjab government implicitly directed procurement officers to deduct Rs 300 per quintal from farmers (using moisture content or driage as excuses)—a move Bajwa condemned as a betrayal of trust. “The government is literally transferring the burden of these losses onto farmers’ backs. This is nothing less than exploitation,” he charged.
Bajwa expressed grave concerns over what he described as CM Mann’s ‘double game’—professing loyalty to AAP while seemingly aligning with BJP interests. “CM Mann’s political survival appears more critical to him than the well-being of Punjab’s farmers. This fluid allegiance is dangerous for Punjab,” Bajwa cautioned.
