The minister, who had been a vocal supporter of the bill and was part of the cabinet meeting that cleared it, resigned shortly before the voting on the bills in the Lok Sabha. Her husband and party chief Sukhbir Badal said the Akalis will continue to support the government from outside but oppose the “anti-farmer politics”.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal walked out of Lok Sabha this evening when the House was taking up discussion on the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, that the NDA government has proposed in Parliament during the ongoing monsoon session, replacing the ordinances issued by it earlier.

Harsimrat and her husband Sukhbir are the only two Lok Sabha MPs from the Akali Dal. The government introduced the Farmers’ Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Bill, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill in Parliament on Monday to replace ordinances promulgated earlier.

On Tuesday, Sukhbir, the MP from Ferozepur, voted against the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, saying the proposed legislation is against the interests of farmers. It was passed by Parliament.

In an U-turn earlier this week, Sukhbir Badal said his party was not kept in the loop by BJP while introducing the controversial farm ordinances. Earlier, SAD had been defending ordinances strongly, saying that these will have no bearing on existing procurement policy and that Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime for farm produce would continue.

With the resignation of Harsimrat on the issue, SAD would aim at consolidating its stronghold in the peasantry, while attempting to stage a comeback in the state polls. Punjab goes to polls in the early quarter of 2022. Badal, who made her political debut in the 2009 general elections by winning from Bhatinda constituency, also served as food processing minister in the previous Modi cabinet.