Narendra Singh Tomar Narendra Singh Tomar assumes Harsimrat Kaur Badal's portfolio as Akali Dal member quits
New Delhi/IBNS: Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has been assigned the additional charge of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries following Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal's resignation from the Narendra Modi cabinet, media reports said.
Tomar also holds the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Badal.
Badal resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet on Thursday over the Centre's take on farm sector bills.
I have resigned from Union Cabinet in protest against anti-farmer ordinances and legislation. Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter & sister.
— Harsimrat Kaur Badal (@HarsimratBadal_) September 17, 2020
Badal's Akali Dal on Thursday faced protests from farmers over the party's initial support to ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding these bills.
The Union Minister, who was a supporter of the bill in the cabinet meeting that cleared the same, resigned shortly before the voting on them started in the Lok Sabha.
Her husband and party chief Sukhbir Badal said the Akalis will continue to support the Modi government from outside but oppose "anti-farmer policies".
The bills have left the farmers of Punjab and Haryana upset despite the BJP's claims that these will bring reform in the agriculture sector.
The government said the bills, which would replace the three ordinances issued in June, will help farmers across the country get a better market and price for their products.
The Akali Dal, which initially supported the laws, made a U-turn this week after understanding the intensity of the farmers' resentment.
They had even appealed to the Centre to hold off the bills until the farmers' concerns were heard too.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
