Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today appealed to Punjabis to support its own regional party which was taking on all Delhi based parties by contesting the forthcoming parliamentary elections on principles to safeguard the interests of Punjab.
The SAD president, who toured the Mansa and Budhlada assembly constituencies today at the head of the Punjab Bachao Yatra, was accompanied by Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal who also received a rousing welcome everywhere. Hundreds of women came up to both the SAD president and Harsimrat Badal to complain how their names had been deleted from various social welfare schemes besides blessing them for the manner in which they had conducted development in the Bathinda parliamentary constituency during the ten year tenure of the SAD led government in the State. Speaker after speaker including Prem Arora in Mansa and Dr Nishan Singh Budhladha harked back to the development done during the erstwhile SAD government and appealed to the people to bring back a pro- Punjab and pro-Punjabi party back in power in the State.
Asserting that the SAD was the only regional party in the fray, Sukhbir Singh Badal said “we are arraigned against the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) who have no agenda for Punjab. “Only the SAD can protect your rights”, he asserted. He also highlighted how both the Congress and AAP governments had taken Punjab back by decades besides asserting that both Punjab and Bathinda parliamentary constituency had suffered during the last seven years. “Look around you, all development including the AIIMS institute, thermal plant, refinery central university, airport or road infrastructure – all of it came about during the SAD government tenure. Both the Congress and AAP have nothing to show by way of any achievement”. He also highlighted the spirited manner in which Harsimrat Badal had protected the interests of her constituents and brought in major projects into the constituency.
Speaking during the Yatra, Mrs Badal said “the SAD is determined to take the voice of Punjabis to Delhi. This is the only way to resolve all our issues”. She asserted the SAD alone was capable of taking up the issues of Punjab and ensuring justice was done to Punjabis.
Asserting that Delhi based parties were not loyal towards Punjabis, Mrs Badal said chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his ministerial colleagues were busy playing a game of one-upmanship to please their boss Arvind Kejriwal by indulging in drama exercises in Delhi. “Punjabis meanwhile are in the grip of a drug menace and are even dying due to large scale prevalence of hooch but nothing has been done to resolve these issues”. The Bathinda MP also highlighted how earlier the Congress party had befooled Punjabis. “You were promised a complete loan waiver and ‘ghar ghar naukari’. However nothing of this sort happened. Instead Congressmen resorted to looting Punjab and bankrupted corporations like the PRTC by indulging in corruption by giving orders for fabricating bus bodies outside the State ‘’.
