Shahkot, March 20
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal today said chief minister Bhagwant Mann had just woken up to the injustice rendered to Punjab by the flow of half of its river waters to Rajasthan instead of acting on the 2016 resolution passed by the Vidhan Sabha during the erstwhile SAD government demanding royalty for River waters supplied to not only Rajasthan but also Haryana and Delhi.
Addressing a massive rally here as part of the party’s Punjab Bachao campaign along with halka incharge Bachittar Singh Kohar, the SAD president said, “The chief minister’s statement on taking royalty from Rajasthan is a knee jerk reaction after I announced that the next SAD government would not allow one drop of water to flow into the Rajasthan canal. We are committed to correcting the historical wrong done to Punjab by the Congress party which gave away half of our River waters to Rajasthan. This water will be diverted to the fields of Punjab”.
Asserting that Mann was indulging in such diversionary politics instead of resolving the grievances of Punjabis. “Potato farmers are dumping their crop on the roads but the chief minister is impervious to their misery. The SAD demands the government intervene and direct Markfed to lift the potato crop on reserved prices to stop distress selling. I also assure that the next SAD government will evolve a mechanism for market intervention by State agencies in case of any such glut”, he told farmers.
Badal also spoke on how the SAD had been maintaining that AAP leaders and legislators were trafficking drugs and even taking monthlies from drug lords. “This has been proved with the arrest of a close aide of AAP leader Talbir Gill with 4 kg of heroin. The patronage the AAP government is giving to gangsters can be gauged from the fact that the aunt of dreaded gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who was used to intimidate political opponents in elections to the Zila Parishad and Block Samitis, has been made Chairperson of the Dera Baba Nanak Block Samiti,” he added. He also spoke on how AAP was using gangsters like Jaggu Bhagwanpuria to intimidate political opponents in electing Chairpersons to Block Samitis and how the gangster’s aunt had even been made Chairperson of the Dera Baba Nanak Block Samiti.
Badal also targeted the chief minister for lying on investment received by the State during AAP tenure. He said Mann had claimed that Punjab had got an investment of Rs 1.50 lakh crore during the last four years even as RTI information had revealed that Punjab received an investment of only Rs 2,600 crore. He also spoke on how agencies were conspiring to bring new entrants into the poll fray in Punjab and even provide support to these persons in the same manner in which certain persons were propped up in the 2024 parliamentary elections to weaken the SAD.
Badal also stated that the AAP government was trying to deceive Punjabis again by claiming it would give Rs 1,000 per month to general women and Rs 1,500 per month to those from the reserved category. He said the AAP government had taken a loan of Rs 52,000 crore and has sold government land to give this allowance to women for six months. “In this process the government has also withheld power subsidy to PSPCL. This will spell doom for Punjab and its farmers”, he added.
The SAD president also announced that an Rs 10 lakh interest free loan would be offered to youth besides restarting an expanded Aata Dal scheme and raising old age pension to Rs 3,100 per month and Shagun allowance to Rs 1 lakh. He also announced all farmers bereft of a tubewell connection would be given this facility besides 12 hour power supply in day time, establishment of a World Skill University with its affiliated Colleges in each district and government jobs for Punjabis only.
