Baba Bakala, August 28, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said India had not yet reached a trade agreement with the United States and asserted that no agreement with any country would be made at the expense of farmers’ interests.
Addressing a BJP political conference organised at Baba Bakala on the occasion of Rakhar Punnia, Chouhan said the interests of farmers would remain paramount in all trade negotiations. He accused opposition parties of creating confusion over the issue despite there being no US trade deal so far.
Chouhan, a four-time former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, said agreements with the UK and European countries had protected farmers’ interests. He also cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stated position that the nation and farmers’ welfare would remain the priority.
Highlighting central support to Punjab’s agricultural sector, Chouhan said around ₹8.20 lakh crore had been sent over 12 years for procurement of wheat and paddy from Punjab farmers at MSP. He said another ₹1.5 lakh crore had been provided as fertiliser subsidy and ₹6,552 crore under PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi.
He added that of the ₹6,500-crore crop diversification project, the first instalment of ₹1,300 crore had already been released. According to Chouhan, canal and watercourse works currently being undertaken in Punjab were also Central Government projects.
Targeting the AAP government and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Chouhan questioned why the PM Fasal Bima Yojana had not been implemented in Punjab. He claimed that farmers affected by last year’s floods could have received crop-loss compensation had the scheme been implemented.
Chouhan also alleged that the Punjab government took three months to submit a list of houses destroyed in the floods. He said the Centre subsequently released funds under the PM Awas Yojana after receiving a list of 24,000 houses, but alleged that the affected people did not receive the houses. He promised that a BJP government would provide pucca houses under the scheme to people living in kaccha houses.
The Union minister further accused the AAP government of corruption, alleging that corruption had now reached the Chief Minister’s residence. He also alleged that the Chief Minister’s family had been accused of a ₹5-crore deal to protect a rape accused and claimed that no action had been taken. These were allegations made by Chouhan at the political gathering.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini called for a BJP government in Punjab in 2027, saying the time had come to take responsibility for farmers, youth and women’s safety. He said the Bhagwant Mann government should be judged by its policies and intentions rather than advertisements.
Saini described the Majha region as the gateway to India and said infrastructure development and curbing the smuggling of drugs and weapons would be among the BJP’s priorities.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon alleged that the AAP government had “ruined” Punjab over the past four-and-a-half years. He claimed that the state’s debt had risen from ₹2.82 lakh crore to around ₹4.5 lakh crore and said another ₹25,000 crore loan was being raised.
Dhillon also attacked the government over drugs, gang activity, extortion, killings and mining revenue. Referring to an earlier claim of generating ₹20,000 crore from mining, he alleged that only ₹600 crore had been generated and questioned where the remaining ₹19,400 crore had gone.
BJP national vice-president Manpreet Singh Badal, former Union Railway Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, Rajya Sabha MP Bikramjit Singh Sahney, former Punjab BJP presidents Ashwani Sharma and Vijay Sampla, Som Parkash, Iqbal Singh Lalpura, Fatehjang Bajwa, Ashwani Sekhri, Ravikiran Singh Kahlon and Harjinder Singh Thekedar also addressed the gathering.
Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh and former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar were also present at the conference.
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