Raghbir Singh Brar
Faridkot
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced that cleaning up the Sutlej and Beas rivers would be a top priority of the next SAD government and that he would not allow one drop of polluted effluents from either factories or sewer lines to flow into the State’s rivers.
Addressing a mammoth rally as part of the Punjab Bachao movement spearheaded by him at Bhai Rupa,Sukhbir Badal said “polluted water is the reason for the spread of cancer in the Malwa region. I am committed to ending this scourge once and for all”.
Addressing a sea of blue along with senior leader Sikandar Singh Maluka, the SAD president said the SAD was also committed to ending gunda raj and the drug mafia. Stating that as if extortions and targeted killings were not enough, now even youth were being killed in false encounters by the State police. “Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has turned Punjab into a Police State. The police are being used rampantly to target farmers, employees, political opponents and even the media. I assure Punjabis, once elected to power the SAD will usher in peace and communal harmony and bring back people’s rule. We will also deal with gangsters and the drug mafia sternly. They will be declared as terrorists and special legislation will be brought in to deny them bail and their entire properties will be seized to end this menace once and for all”.
Asserting that no political party had any real concern for Punjab and its people, Badal said neither the Congress, AAP or the BJP and its top leaders have your interests at heart. Their only concern is to usurp power”. He said the SAD on the other hand was fully committed to the State and its people. “When the AAP government as well as the central government failed you during the devastating floods last year, the SAD came forward to provide flood relief immediately”.
Badal also gave the example of how Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had come to the State not out of any concern for Punjabis or to set any positive agenda for his party. “He is here only to quell the dissidence in the Punjab Congress. He understands the party is on the verge of disintegration with all its leaders at each other’s throats. He is on a desperate mission to save the party but will never succeed as Punjabis have seen repeated Congress governments, all of which don’t have one thing to show by way of development, infrastructure projects or social welfare benefits”.
The SAD president also announced that once elected to power, the SAD government would ensure release of tubewell connections to all farmers who were bereft of this facility till now. “We will also provide Aaata – Daal at Rs four per kg and Rs 40 per kg respectively to the weaker sections besides raising old age pension to Rs 3,100 per month and raising the Shagun benefit on the wedding of daughters of the poor to Rs one lakh”. He also announced government jobs would be reserved only for Punjabis and that there would be 75 per cent reservation in industries for Punjabi youth who would also be eligible for an interest fee Rs 10 lakh loan. He also announced that the next SAD government would take on the responsibility of giving free education to poor students in private and government engineering and medical colleges once they qualified for the fifty per cent seats reserved for them in these institutions.
Badal also thanked the people for the outpouring of love and affection for the SAD in today’s rally and said the party government had earlier spent Rs 300 crore for the development of this constituency alone. “Today its people came out in thousands to support the party and herald the coming of the next SAD government”, he said while thanking Sikandar Singh Maluka and Harinder Singh Mehraj on the occasion.
Senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia while speaking on the occasion asked Punjabis if the AAP government had given them even one new School or College. He also blasted the AAP government for trying to “purchase” votes at the fag end of their tenure by deciding to give Rs 1,000 per month to women. “If the AAP government is serious about providing any relief to the womenfolk they should release Rs 60,000 which is due to each woman of the State immediately”. He also highlighted how serving police officers were being used for pre-wedding shoots of AAP leaders besides the withdrawal of security of artists Jordan Sandhu and Gippy Grewal after they were associated with the SAD. “Even the security of Baba Ghalla ji of Nanaksar was withdrawn on the same pretext”, he added.