Raghbir Singh Brar
Faridkot
March 8
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the Aam Aadmi Party government was set to take an unprecedented loan of Rs 52,000 crore this year and wanted to sell government lands to purchase votes by giving an allowance of Rs 1,000 to women for a few months.
Addressing a mammoth rally along with senior leader Janmeja Singh Sekhon here which turned the entire Grain Market into a sea of blue, the SAD president said “if the AAP government was serious about doing anything for the women of the State it would have allocated Rs 66,000 for each woman starting from the day the AAP government was formed. This was the promise of AAP. However instead of doing this, the AAP government wants to steal their votes by giving them this allowance for a few months. I appeal to women to take what they get but teach this government a befitting lesson for defrauding them in the 2027 elections”.
Asserting that the farmers knew that the SAD alone had provided succor to them during the devastating floods last year, Mr Badal said “however finance minister Harpal Cheema is claiming in his budget speech that the AAP government has given them speedy compensation”. He also termed the Rs 15 crore allocated for crop compensation as a cruel joke on farmers”.
Mr Sukhbir Badal said similarly even though everyone knew the Medical College promised by chief minister Bhagwant Mann had not progressed beyond the foundation stone stage, the government had promised sixteen new Medical Colleges in its budget today. “However no money has been allocated for them”. Earlier, he had announced 16 medical colleges in Punjab, the SAD president reminded.
He said similarly no money had been allocated for implementing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees or giving any incentive to the trade and industry. Also, there is nothing about Rs 3000 unemployment allowance promised to youth.
Speaking about his vision for Punjab, Mr Badal said “once the SAD government is formed in the State we will establish a World Class Skill University over 300 acres in Bathinda”. He said the University, which would train one lakh youth through its affiliates and would collaborate with industry houses so that skills could be imparted to the youth as per the demand of the industry.
He 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, Mr 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. Mr 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 Amritsar would be turned into a tourism hub and that Mohali would become an IT hub. 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.
Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal spoke at length about the development done in this constituency during the SAD tenure including establishment of new schools, irrigation schemes and health and road infrastructure. Senior leader Janmeja Singh Sekhon and Bikram Singh Majithia also spoke on the occasion
