Cong gave birth to Punjab militancy: Advani

AMRITSAR: With the poll campaign in Punjab hotting up, senior BJP leader L K Advani on Sunday accused the ruling Congress of "giving birth" to terrorism in the state during the 1980s and giving farmers' land at throwaway prices to industrialists for setting up SEZs.

"It is the Congress which gave birth to terrorism in Punjab and created communal hatred during the 1980s," he said addressing election rallies for cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, renominated the BJP candidate for the February 13 Amritsar Lok Sabha bye-election.

He said the UPA government's "anti-farmer" policies were responsible for the high suicide rate among poor peasants and it "never thought to invest in the agriculture sector, but pumped money in industrialisation in order to make the rich richer".

The former BJP chief also lashed out at Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's "poor administration" and alleged that his government was "making money by giving land to the rich at a minimum price for setting up their industries".

He said if the government was willing to set up SEZs in Punjab, it "should pay the right price" for the land.

"SEZ was set up in Gujarat also, but there was no hue and cry among farmers," he said in a reference to the recent police action on farmers in Barnala and Sangrur protesting acquisition of land by the Trident group.

"The farmers protested as they did not get a fair price for their land but they were subjected to injustice and some politicians had the gumption to say that those who resist will have to face the consequences," he said.