Will have to suffer in poll due to farmers’ ire : AAP legislator

Gidderbaha Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon on Tuesday said he “would have to face” consequences of the farmers’ disenchantment with the party in the next Assembly poll.

The legislator has become the first ruling party MLA to have admitted the possible fallout of the last month’s police crackdown that ended farmers’ over a year-long stir for assured price of crops.

On Monday, farmers had confronted Dimpy at Gurusar village here, where he had gone to inaugurate a development work at a school under the government’s Sikhya Kranti programme. His statement has come a day after two other AAP legislators — Balkar Sidhu and Sukhbir Singh — faced the farmers’ ire in Bathinda district in separate incidents.

When farmers posed a question to Dimpy at Manianwala village here today, he responded, “I know that I will have to suffer due to (farmers’ disenchantment) this in the next election. I am foreseeing it.” Dimpy had approached the farmers on spotting them standing alongside a road while holding union flags.

Farmers raised several concerns directly affecting them, including the recent ban on PUSA-44, a popular paddy seed variety. In response, Dimpy said, “I will definitely speak to the Chief Minister and seek some relaxation for this area. I understand the problem of farmers. Let whatever happened in the past be in the past.” However, the farmers said had the Congress or Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) been in power, they would have exerted greater pressure on the Centre to accept their demands. Dimpy did not respond to this remark and quietly left the site in his car.

Dimpy, a leading transporter, had joined AAP in August last year after quitting the SAD just ahead of the Gidderbaha bypoll.

Punjab