*BJP condemns lathi-charge on farmers at Bathinda*

 -- *BJP condemns lathi-charge on farmers at Bathinda* 

-- *Punjab farmers bearing the brunt of misgovernance, forced to commit suicide, lathi-charged for raising demands, Vijay Sampla*

-- *AAP government is avenging farmers for defeat in 10 Loksabha seats in Punjab* 

Jalandhar/ Nov 12/Daljeet Ajnoha 

Former Union Minister and Senior BJP Leader Vijay Sampla condemned the lathi charge on agitating farmers in Raike Kalan Bathinda, who had been demanding paddy procurement from the grain markets across the state. 

Addressing media persons here today, Sampla stated that the Aam Admi Party-led Punjab government was avenging from farmers it's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. 

He said that due to poor management on the part of the AAP government in the state, farmers were being forced to commit suicide. On Nov 5 farmer Jaswinder Singh from Nadampur, Bhawanigarh, district Sangrur committed suicide as he was unable to sell paddy produce on the MSP rate. He had been waiting in mandi to sell his produce for the past one week and had ended up having a black Diwali festivity as he could not sell anything. 

"Instead of visiting the residence of bereaved family in Sangrur, the AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal preferred to spend his time in Ludhiana with newly elected sarpanches, '' said Sampla. 

He added that it would have taken just 20 minutes to cover the distance from Ludhiana to Sangrur using Punjab government aircraft, which was also put to use by Kejriwal during Jammu and Kashmir elections. 

Sampla said that before the Lok Sabha elections, AAP has sponsored farmer agitation on the Shambhu border. The AAP had wanted farmers to pay back the help in the form of marking the victory of 13 AAP candidates in the Lok Sabha elections. 

He added that however, AAP faced debacle in Punjab by losing 10 loksabha seats out of 13 in Lok Sabha and is now irate on farmers. To avenge its defeat in Lok Sabha, the party was now bothering farmers. 

Sampla said that despite the center having released Rs 44000 cr for smooth procurement in Punjab, the state government has failed to ensure proper procurement. He added that it was the first time ever that Punjab's farmers were facing acute distress and had restored to commuting suicide. 

Raising the issue of acute shortage of DAP for sowing wheat Sampla said that none of the neighboring states like Haryana and Rajasthan were facing this problem of paucity of DAP. He added that due to a lack of vision and poor governance, the agriculture sector in Punjab was suffering severe setbacks