DW BUREAU / Chandigarh The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today held protest dharnas in all constituencies of the State to protest against the fixed match being played by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh with the centre to the detriment of the farming community as well as the betrayal committed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by giving its assent to the Essential Commodities Amendment Act in the Standing Committee on Food and Consumer Affairs. The dharnas witnessed thousands of people coming on the roads in support of the SAD across the State with former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal leading the 'dharna' at Bathinda and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia leading a massive dharna at Majitha. Likewise senior SAD leaders led dharnas across the State to expose both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The protests highlighted how chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh was playing a fixed match with the central government and only making a show of being in support of the farmers. They highlighted how the chief minister was part of the committee which finalized the three Agricultural Ordinances and how he had earlier even amended the APMC Act to include the very provisions of the Agri Acts against which the farmers were protesting now. They also highlighted how the chief minister had sold off the interests of the farmers by agreeing to the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme which aimed to bypass arhatiyas to the detriment of the farming community. The dharnas also highlighted the double standards of AAP Convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who protesters said had always worked against the Kisan Andolan. "They highlighted how Kejriwal was the first to notify the three Agricultural laws and how his government had refused to support Sikh youth who were put in jail under false charges in Delhi in January. They also highlighted the manner in which Bhagwant Mann had backstabbed the farming community by striking a deal with corporate houses to give his assent to the Essential Commodities Amendment Act in the Standing Committee on Food and Consumer Affairs. They said Bhagwant was trying to befool the farmers even now even after the report of the Committee which clearly specified that he had given his assent to the amended Essential Commodities Act had been released in public domain. The dharnas also highlighted how the Congress government had broken the back of the beleaguered people of Punjab, especially the farmers, the traders, the poor, the dalits, the employees and the unemployed youth. Speakers also highlighted the back breaking hike in domestic power tariff from Rs Five to Rs ten per unit, unbearable state taxes accounting for the bulk of the hike in the prices of diesel and petrol, denial of the Post Matric Scholarship to Dalit students and on the Amarinder-BJP collusion against farmers on Direct payment to farmers as a means to punish the farmers for their peaceful, democratic struggle against the three black laws. The protests also focused on the total breakdown of law and order machinery in the state and highlighted how gangsters were being given a free run in the State and how even an underworld don ? Mukhtiar Ansari was sheltered in a State prison for two years. It said such open patronage to criminals had resulted in a rise in organized crime including snatchings, extortions and even killings. (editor@dailyworld.in)