Gujrat, India (March 07, 2014): On day two (March 06) of his fact-finding mission to Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former CM of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal met with Sikh farmers of the state in Abdasa block of Kutch district. These farmers are facing eviction from the land which they have been tilling since generations.
“Kejriwal has demanded justice for the Punjab farmers settled in Kutch since independence. He had a very heartfelt talk with the Sikh farmers in Abdasa. They talked at length about their worries of losing the land which they have been harvesting since generations”, said AAP leader and BJP rebel Kanu Kalsariya, who was accompanying Arvind Kejriwal during his visit.
As per media reports Arvind Kejriwal is on four-day visit to the state of Gujarat to ascertain the claims of development being made by state chief minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
“The farmers have won the case in the Gujarat High Court, but the state government has gone into appeal in the Supreme Court. Though there is no stay on the High Court order, the government is not implementing it under the pretext of the matter being sub-judice” Kalsariya added.
After meeting with Sikh farmers in Abdasa block of Kutch, Arvind Kejriwal reportedly said that Gujarat government was not willing to given them their land.
“The state government has hired senior lawyers in the Apex Court so that the Sikh farmers of Gujarat do not get their land,” Kejriwal told reporters.
He also assured the farmers that he would raise their issues at the highest level. The farmers also saw hope in Kejriwal as their pleas to the state government have gone unheard.
It may be recalled that on February 23, during his so-called ‘Fateh Rally” at Jagraon near Ludhina in Punjab, the Gurjrat CM Narendra Modi had claimed that no farmer shall be evicted from Gujrat but the same he had failed make may word regarding withdrawal of Gurjat govt’s appeal in the Supreme Court of India seeking eviction of affected farmers.