Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Friday said the new central administration should focus on resolving farmers’ grievances and fulfilling commitments made to them earlier. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to take oath for his third consecutive term on June 9, sources said.
In Prime Minister Modi’s ministry, Harsimrat Kaur Badal served as Minister of Food Processing Industries from 2014 to 2020. She stated that Punjabis should not be classified as “atankwadi” (terrorists).
“I urge the union government to focus on farmers’ grievances and fulfill the promises made. No one should be allowed to label Punjabis as atankwadi or ugarwadi and fan communal divisions. Punjabis are first and foremost patriots, they serve the nation at the borders and as food providers, they deserve better,” Harsimrat Kaur Badal wrote in X.
On September 17, 2020, Harsimrat Kaur Badal announced her resignation from the Union Cabinet in protest against three measures relating to agriculture that the Center had brought forward at that time.
The Lok Sabha election results, announced on June 4, showed that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had won a third consecutive term in power.
The Election Commission of India said on Tuesday that the BJP had won 240 seats, while the Congress had won 99 seats. In the 2014 general elections, the BJP won 282 seats and in the 2019 general elections, 303 seats.
Wednesday’s NDA meeting was the first of its kind since the alliance’s majority victory. The unity of the coalition was reinforced by the presence of Narendra Modi at the meeting along with senior leaders of the NDA and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
NDA leaders have trusted Modi and elected him as the leader of the alliance, paving the way for him to become prime minister for the third consecutive time.
Meanwhile, Speaker Droupadi Murmu dissolved the 17th Lok Sabha on Wednesday following the recommendation of the Union Cabinet.
(With contributions from ANI)