🔴 Shingara Singh Maan, senior vice president of BKU (Ugrahan), added, 'BJP is desperate to find new Sikh faces and they found one in Sirsa. It seems he was being sidelined by SAD and hence he joined BJP.'
As farmer unions in Punjab moved from surprise to controlled indignation in their reaction Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s decision to join the BJP, they made it amply clear that the former DSGMC chief will not be able to draw any political mileage from their year-long protest despite being among its most prominent and vocal supporters. BKU (Dakaunda) chief Buta Singh Burjgill said: “If Sirsa is thinking of contesting elections from Punjab on a BJP ticket and he thinks that he will get sympathy, he is living in a fool’s paradise. Punjab will not forgive BJP for troubling farmers for more than a year.”
Shingara Singh Maan, senior vice president of BKU (Ugrahan), added, “BJP is desperate to find new Sikh faces and they found one in Sirsa. It seems he was being sidelined by SAD and hence he joined BJP. But in Punjab people will treat him the way we will treat any BJP candidate. Modi took back farm laws but after 700 farmers died. We will not forget. Our struggle forced him to bow down and anyone who will try to get political mileage out of the struggle will face the music. Amarinder will also get similar treatment.”
Not long ago, Sirsa was present along with family of activist Nodeep Kaur when she was granted bail and he had hailed it as a big victory for the DSGMC’s legal team. More recently, he had gone to Mumbai to get FIR lodged against actor Kangana Ranaut for her statement against farmers.
“He was in Mumbai to get FIR lodged against Kangana Ranaut and now he is in BJP. What a twist!” said Prem Singh Bhangu, president of the All India Kisan Mahasabha, Punjab.
He said, “I was in touch with Sirsa when bails of arrested persons were being fought for and DSGMC was helping us. It seems that he wants to earn political mileage out of that kisan aandolan, but DSGMC was doing work for farmers and not him as an individual.”
A Delhi-based advocate, who was in the team of lawyers fielded by DSGMC for helping farmers in Red Fort violence cases, said that while SAD had won DSGMC polls, Sirsa had lost from Punjabi Bagh area.
“It seems there was some politics going on against him in his own party,” he said.
Advocate Amarvir Singh Bhullar, another lawyer who has been associated with providing legal help to farmers involved in Delhi morcha, said: “In Delhi, during kisan aandolan, Sirsa had become a popular figure. Though DSGMC was making all the efforts for farmers, but at the back end he was an Akali leader. However, he had never uttered even a word about his political party while working for farmers. However, people of Punjab will understand the game plan of BJP.
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