MALOUT: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today urged Punjabis to beware the evil designs of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convener Arvind Kejriwal, saying if the latter was returned to power he would hand over the river waters of Punjab to Haryana and Delhi.
Addressing a large gathering in favour of SAD candidate Harpeet Singh here, the SAD president said “Arvind Kejriwal has a clear cut anti-Punjab agenda. He may try to fool Punjabis with false guarantees during electioneering but the truth is that he has always taken a stand against Punjab in the Supreme Court. Be it demanding the river waters of Punjab be given to Haryana and Delhi, to demanding closing down of four thermal plants of Punjab or criminalizing stubble burning, Kejriwal has always taken an anti-Punjab stance”.
Mr Sukhbir Badal said this was not all. “Kejriwal is discriminating against Punjab and Punjabis in Delhi”. He said no Sikh legislator had been thought fit to be made a minister in Delhi even as the second language status given to Punjabi in Delhi was withdrawn by the AAP government. He said Kejriwal even discriminated against Punjabi youth who were incarcerated in jail during the Kisan Andolan. “The AAP government, which is incharge of jail administration in Delhi, mistreated the youth and even opposed their bail applications”.
He also urged people to understand who was with them through thick and thin and fly by night operators like Kejriwal. “Did Kejriwal even come to thank you after you made AAP the principal opposition party in the State? Did he visit you during the period of Covid? Did he send any medicine to you on behalf of the Delhi government?”
Mr Badal also urged Punjabis to beware of political turncoats who were now contesting elections on the AAP ticket. He said Kejriwal had sold the party tickets for crores of rupees to turncoats. “Many of them, including all six candidates in Ludhiana, the Sanour candidate who is a proclaimed offender and the Ferozepur Rural candidate who has a rape charge against him, have a criminal past. Kejriwal is vitiating the political atmosphere in the State by giving tickets to people with criminal pasts even as he is sowing the seeds of division in society”.
Speaking about his mother Surinder Kaur’s attachment with Malout which she had adopted, Mr Badal said “you have witnessed how this area has developed only when the SAD has been in power. You have witnessed how former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal spent hundreds of crores of rupees end water logging in this area. We are committed to developing this area. You will witness restart of development activities in this constituency once the SAD-BSP alliance is elected to power”.
Mr Badal also detailed that the next SAD-BSP alliance government was committed to increase the old age pension from Rs 1, 500 per month to Rs 3, 100 per month. He said similarly the shagun benefit would be increased to Rs 75, 000 per beneficiary. He also announced that the alliance government would give Rs 2, 000 per month to women heads of below poverty line families, Rs ten lakh student card for higher studies, Rs 10 lakh medical insurance, create one lakh government jobs and ten lakh private jobs, distribute five lakh houses free of cost to the poor and needy as well as give 5, 000 five marla plots to the poor in each constituency of the State. Mr Badal also announced the price of diesel for agriculture use would be lowered by Rs 10 per liter once the SAD-BSP government was formed and that all domestic consumers would received 400 units of free power per month.