Garhshankar/Chandigarh, March 9
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal today outlined a comprehensive development plan for the Kandi region in Punjab including a special package for industry and highways, even as he welcomed Shiromani Committee member and former MLA Surinder Singh Bhulewal Rathan back into the party along with the entire Hoshiarpur unit of the Punar Surjit Dal including its 22 delegates.
Addressing a massive gathering at the Saila Khurd grain market, the SAD president said Doaba was leading the Akali resurgence in Punjab as part of the Akali Ghar Wapsi Lehar and that the ‘Chulha Dal’, also known as the Punar Surjit Dal, would be wiped out in Punjab with its leaders realizing they had been hoodwinked into weakening their own mother party at the instance of central agencies. He said it was a matter of great satisfaction that the entire Hoshiarpur unit of the Chullah Dal had merged back into the SAD. He also reappointed Mr Bhulewal Rathan as the halka incharge of the party in this constituency on the occasion.
Badal also welcomed senior leaders of the Chullah Dal who rejoined the SAD including the Chullah Dal’s Hoshiarpur President Dr Satwinder Singh Dhatt and SGPC Executive member Dr Jang Bahadur Singh on the occasion. Speaking of the need to develop the Kandi belt, Badal said, “Once the SAD government is formed in 2027 we will implement a special industrial package for the belt, including power and tax subsidies, besides creating twin highways from Pathankot to Chandigarh and Amritsar to Anandpur Sahib to improve road connectivity in the region.” He said the SAD also understood the need to help the Kandi farmers, especially in areas where water was scarce. “We will establish government tubewells and provide drip irrigation facilities to farmers to ensure efficient irrigation of their fields”, he asserted.
In another important announcement, Badal said, “The SAD is committed to establishing a Centre for Excellence in Football at Mahilpur which is famous as the nursery of football in Punjab”. He went on to say that he was confident that the Centre would have the same result as establishing 17 Astro Turfs for Hockey by the erstwhile SAD government had made Punjab a powerhouse of the game at the national level.
Launching a frontal attack on chief minister Bhagwant Mann whom he accused of amassing 2,500 acres of land in Australia through corrupt means, Badal said, “The AAP government does not have any money for old age pension, Shagun scheme or for roads and sewerage works. However it has spent Rs 4,400 crore on advertisements alone in the last four years”. He said now the same failed government had decided to give Rs 1,000 per month to women for a few months by taking a loan of Rs 52,000 crore and selling government properties. “This is an attempt to purchase votes by offering cash for a few months”, he added.
Badal also announced the next SAD government would eradicate gangsters and drug mafia from the State. “We will bring in legislation to deny bail to gangsters and drug lords and seize their complete properties”. Announcing another priority of the next government, Badal said, “I will not let one drop of industrial or sewerage effluent enter the Sutlej and Beas rivers. The violators will be dealt with sternly. This is absolutely essential to tackle the scourge of cancer in the Malwa belt”.
The SAD president also announced that the SAD would not allow water to flow into the Rajasthan canal once it came to power. Badal said the Congress was responsible for handing over Punjab’s waters to Rajasthan and that he was committed to correcting this historic injustice. “All water diverted from the Rajasthan canal will be diverted to the fields of Punjab”. He also announced that the ‘Rahat’ scheme initiated by the erstwhile SAD government would be revived to put an end to tax terrorism to which traders were subjected to both during the previous Congress and present AAP government. Badal also disclosed that fifty per cent seats would be reserved in government and private medical and engineering colleges for students of meritorious schools and that they would be imparted professional education free of cost.
