Harsimrat Badal Resigns As Farm Bills Clear Lok Sabha; PM Modi Says, ‘Forces Trying To Mislead Farmers, Agriculture Reform Bills Will Lead To Increased Profits'

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Akali Dal's lone Union minister resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet on September 17 as her party faced heat from farmers over its initial support to ally BJP's farm sector bills. Badal, who attended the cabinet meet that cleared the bills, stepped down shortly before the bills were passed by the Lok Sabha. She tweeted that she was "Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter & sister". The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind accepted Badal’s resignation & directed Narendra Singh Tomar to take the additional charge of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. The Congress government in Punjab had passed a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha against the ordinances, prompting the Akali Dal to fiercely oppose the bills after initially supporting it. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Harsimrat Kaur's resignation was "too little too late". The bills, which the BJP claims is big ticket reform in the agri-sector, have hugely upset the farmers of Punjab and Haryana, who have been holding protests for weeks. The Akalis, who initially supported the proposed laws, made a U-turn this week after realising the depth of the farmers' resentment. Hailing the passage of three farm sector bills in Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17 described it as historic & asserted that they will rid farm sector of middlemen & other bottlenecks. With ruling BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal joining the opposition in protesting these bills, Modi asserted that many forces are trying to “mislead’ farmers. He assured the farming community that minimum support price (MSP) and government procurement of their produce will continue along with a lot of other options for them. Lok Sabha on September 17 passed the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill. It has already passed Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill. The three bills will now be tabled in Rajya Sabha and become laws after the Upper House also passes them. They will replace ordinances promulgated by the Union government.