Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has quit the Modi government protesting the three farm bills the Centre tabled in Parliament in the ongoing session. The resignation comes after Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal announced in Lok Sabha on Thursday the minister will quit the Modi government. Harsimrat is the only SAD representative in the Modi government.

In his speech during a discussion on two of the farm bills — the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, Sukhbir Singh Badal said the proposed laws will “destroy” the 50 years of hard work done by successive Punjab governments to build the farm sector.

He recalled Punjab’s massive contribution in making India self-sufficient in food grain production as he vehemently opposed the bills.

“I announce that Harsimrat Kaur Badal will resign from the government,” he said in Lok Sabha.

Agencies