Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday lashed out at his Punjab counterpart Captain Amarinder Singh after the latter termed the lathi charge on farmers near Karnal a "government-sponsored attack".
"Who is he (Captain Amarinder Singh) to demand my resignation? Instead, he should resign because he is behind the farmers' agitation," said Khattar. He added that the farmers from Punjab are the ones protesting against the Centre's three farm laws at the borders of Delhi. "Farmers from Haryana are not protesting at Singhu or Tikri border," he said.
"In Punjab, he (Amarinder Singh) is instigating farmers and in Haryana, (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda saheb and other Congress leaders are instigating them... No one has the right to block roads indefinitely," Khattar further said.
Meanwhile, Punjab CMO has put out a statement in response to Khattar's comments.
"CM Capt Amarinder Singh slammed his Haryana counterpart for defending the criminal assault on peacefully protesting farmers by putting the onus of their agitation on Punjab, saying that ML Khattar’s remarks had completely exposed his government’s anti-farmer agenda," Punjab CMO's statement read.
"The CM reminded Haryana CM ML Khattar and his dy Dushyant Chautala that farmers protesting against BJP meeting in Karnal when the police rained lathis on them belonged to Haryana & not Punjab," it added.
Earlier on Sunday, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh termed the lathicharge on farmers in Haryana's Karnal a "government-sponsored attack" and said such a "vicious assault" was not only unacceptable but outright condemnable.
In a statement, Singh also expressed shock at the "brazen brutality" of the Haryana Police.
Singh said this was not the first time that farmers had been subjected to such ruthlessness at the hands of the Haryana Police.
He said it was evident that the BJP-led Haryana government had once again deliberately used brute force against farmers in a desperate bid to end their agitation against the "draconian" farm laws.
For the unversed, around 10 people were injured on Saturday as police lathi-charged a group of farmers disrupting traffic movement on a highway while heading towards Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting attended by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, state BJP president Om Prakash Dhankar and other leaders.
(With PTI inputs)
