Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday urged all political parties and farmer unions to unite against the Central government.

Sukhbir was in Ludhiana to mobilise party workers for the October 1 protest march against farm bills, which would commence from all three holy Takhts in the state and culminate at Mohali. From here, a SAD delegation would go on to submit a memorandum to Punjab governor VPS Badnore for the President. A meeting was also held at the hall of Gurdwara Shri Manji Sahib, Alamgir, where social distancing norms were given a miss.

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Without naming any party, Sukhbir told the gathering that the parties should not get into petty politics. He also demanded the immediate promulgation of an Ordinance by the Punjab government to declare the whole of the state as an agriculture market (mandi) to ensure that the Centre’s new Acts did not apply in the state.

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Sukhbir also asked the chief minister to repeal amendments that the Congress government had made to the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act in 2017. “These amendments are exactly the same as the black laws of the Centre against which farmers are protesting. We will fully support the state government’s initiative to repeal these.”