Muktsar/Chandigarh, January 14
Sounding the bugle for the 2027 assembly elections, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced his party was committed to correcting historical injustices like diverting Punjab’s water to Rajasthan through the Rajasthan canal even as he announced a number of poll promises including free tubewell connections to all left out farmers, Rs 10 lakh interest free loans to youth and waiving off Road Tax on motorcycles.
The SAD president also appealed to all leaders who wanted to save Punjab to come back into the SAD fold, saying all those who had left the party due to any anger or grievance should return back in the interest of Punjab and its future generations.
Addressing a party conference at the Maghi Mela, the SAD president paid glowing tributes to the 40 Muktas who had paid the supreme sacrifice for the Panth even as he thanked the party cadre as well as Punjabis for braving extreme cold wave conditions to participate in thousands in the party conference. Asserting that this year’s participation had broken all previous records, Mr Sukhbir Badal said, “Even I got delayed by one hour as I was stuck in traffic and had to walk 4 km to reach the conference site. This is a clear indication of the change of wind in the State. Punjabis want to see the end of Aam Aadmi Party rule and are eager to vote in their own regional party to save their future generations.”
Badal said in case Punjabis gave the SAD to form the next government in Punjab it would introduce pro-farmer, pro-poor and pro- youth schemes besides ending gangster Raj. He said free tubewell connections would be given to all farmers who did not have a connection. “Underground pipes will be installed to ensure canal water reaches tail ends, all lift pumps which have been removed will be reinstalled, water logging will be tackled and land rights will be given to all those ploughing land along river beds,” he added. Badal also announced that free “takseem” will be done to distinguish individual ownership besides allowing registry of land within ‘Lal Dora’ of villages.
Badal also announced that the next SAD government would eradicate the menace of gangsters from the State and would go after drug traffickers. “We will ensure drug traffickers are unable to secure bail for five years”. Asserting that unlike the AAP government which had only made an announcement but done nothing, the SAD government would establish medical colleges in each district of the State and reserve fifty per cent of all seats for poor and deserving students who would be provided education in the medical as well as veterinary colleges free of cost. “A Skill university with a capacity of training 50,000 youth will be established to reverse migration from Punjab. Corporates will be brought on board to impart training as per their needs so that the youth can be appropriately absorbed in the industry”, he added.
The SAD president also announced that government jobs would be reserved for Punjabis to reverse the AAP government trend of filling them with candidates from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. “The youth will also be eligible for an interest free Rs 10 lakh loan which they can repay in seven years”. Badal announced that the SAD was committed to removing Road Tax on motorcycles besides restarting the Kabaddi Cup and Livestock championships.
Holding the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party responsible for all the ills befalling the State, Badal said, “Both these parties swayed you with their false promises and broke your trust”. Stating that the Aam Aadmi Party had taken mis-governance to another level, he said the party was acting like a new East India Company which was looting Punjab to contest elections in other States.
Badal also accused the AAP government of targeting him and facilitating a bid on his life. “The AAP government worked overtime to record an FIR stating that the pistol of the person who shot me in the precincts of Sri Darbar Sahib had gone off in a scuffle after which the assailant was also able to secure bail easily”.
Accusing both parties of colluding with each other against the SAD, Badal said, “The Congress and AAP also politicised the sensitive issue of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib to defame the SAD”. He said the fact of the matter was that sacrileges started in Punjab after the entry of AAP into the State in 2014. “We will probe the AAP role in sacrilege incidents once we come to power to get to the bottom of this conspiracy”, he added.
