Punjab CM Amarinder Singh will introduce bill to counter Centre’s new farm laws, which triggered massive protests across the state, on Tuesday, 20 October.
A two-day special session of the Punjab Assembly was convened on Monday.
According to Hindustan Times, the session was adjourned after special tributes were paid to important figures from the state who passed away recently, including farmers who died during the ongoing agitation against the new farm laws. The session was reportedly continued after a break but was adjourned for the day after a resolution to extend the duration of the special session by one day.
The Punjab Cabinet has authorised chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh to take any legislative decision he may deem fit without “caring for the consequences,” PTI reported.
The decision was taken after a meeting of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) in which party MLAs unanimously stressed the need to reject the farm laws outright and not implement these in the state.
During the two meetings, Cabinet ministers as well as the MLAs asked Amarinder not to shy away from any confrontation with Centre, reported PTI.
According to an official statement, the state Cabinet on Sunday authorised the CM Amarinder Singh to take any legislative decision he may deem fit to protect interests of farmers.
“Amid a consensus among Congress legislators on the need to reject the farm laws outright and not implement them in the state, Amarinder Singh called for a frontal attack against the legislations, even as he was authorised by his Council of Ministers to take any legislative or legal decision he may deem fit to protect the interests of the state's farmers,” the government statement read.
The Assembly session, which was earlier supposed to be held for one day, was extended by the Punjab government on Sunday.
Whole World Watching Punjab: CM Amarinder
During the meeting on Sunday, the Cabinet decided that a strategy to counter the farm laws will be finalised ahead of the special session, reported IANS.
“This fight will go on, we will fight this till the Supreme Court,” the Chief Minister earlier said at a meeting of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP)
Referring to the demand raised by many farmer unions some days back for an immediate session of the Assembly, the Chief Minister said this could not be done earlier as all legal implications had to be examined thoroughly before taking any step.
CM Amarinder Singh also said that the whole world was watching Punjab with a lot of expectations and the views of the MLAs were extremely important for drafting a comprehensive strategy to protect the state's farmers and agriculture sector.
Making it clear that the fight for the Congress was not about politics but to “save Punjab’s agriculture and its farmers”, Amarinder Singh said that decisions will be taken only in the interest of the farming community.
Taking a dig at the Akalis, the Chief Minister said the Congress was not two-faced and had a clear stand on the issue of the farm laws.
His own stand was also clear, he said, adding that contrary to what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leaders had been claiming, Punjab was not consulted at any point in time on the new legislation.
(With inputs from IANS and PTI)
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