Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday said the SAD-BSP alliance was proceeding towards a landslide victory with Punjabis determined to vote out the corrupt and scam-tainted Congress government and simultaneously refusing to repose faith in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the party of outsiders.
Addressing public gatherings in favour of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Shiv Kumar at Bassi Pathana and SAD candidate Jagdeep Singh Cheema at Fatehgarh Sahib, the SAD chief said while the Congress party had not taken a single pro-people decision in the last five years, AAP had introduced corruption in Punjab politics by selling party tickets for crores of rupees to bad elements.
“This is why Punjabis have decided to reject both the Congress and AAP and repose faith in the SAD”, he added.
Leading a blistering attack on both the Congress and AAP, Badal said in case of the Congress government instead of giving anything to the people it had closed down the scheduled caste (SC) scholarship scheme and free cycles for girl students.
He also urged the people to beware of chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and the mafia raj he had introduced in the state. He said the Rs 10 Crore haul from Channi’s nephew Honey was just the tip of the iceberg and that crores of ill-gotten wealth had been transferred from Channi’s private house in Morinda to the chief minister’s residence in Chandigarh.
Badal also targeted AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal how many times he had come to Punjab in the last five years. “Kejriwal did not even care to send any medical or other relief to Punjabis as chief minister of Delhi during the Covid pandemic. Even now he is trying to befool Punjabis by asking for a single chance when he knows he cannot deliver anything,” he added.
The SAD chief said instead of doing anything for Punjab, Kejriwal stood for transfer of the State’s river waters to Haryana and Delhi, closure of Punjab’s thermal plants, and award of exemplary punishment to farmers burning their paddy stubble.
He said voting for AAP would also mean an end to the free power facility being enjoyed by farmers as well as various social welfare benefits like ‘aata-dal’, shagun, and old age pension which were not part of Kejriwal’s Delhi Model.