‘Kejriwal de ishareya…’: Union minister tears into Punjab CM over detention of farmers

On Thursday, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu attacked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwat Mann harshly for holding protesting farmers from the Shambhu border. Detentions occur as negotiations between the central government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the farmers who are protesting continue.

The Punjab police arrested a number of farmer leaders on Wednesday night as they were leaving one of these meetings. Bittu, the sole Punjabi member minister in the Narendra Modi administration, charged Mann with acting at Arvind Kejriwal's request. ANI cited Bittu as adding, "Tu sirf Kejriwal de ishareya te nachda (You only work on Kejriwal's signals)."

The Punjabi people will not permit the chief minister to enter any of the state's villages, the Union minister continued. "You risked the farmers and Punjab as a whole just to stay in power. You'll see that Kejriwal won't suffer any harm, but the Punjabis won't let you access any of the villages," he continued.