FAZILKA: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced the forthcoming SAD government would give land rights to all border farmers tilling land along riverine tracts since decades, asserting former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had initiated this process but vested interests had thwarted the proposal.
The SAD president, who addressed a massive gathering here and at Jalalabad, Guruharsahai, Ferozepur city and Ferozepur Rural in favour of SAD candidate Nardev Singh Mann, said “this time we will take concrete measures to ensure all land rights of farmers tilling riverine tracts are transferred to them without fail. We will bring in necessary changes in the law to do so”, he added to cheers from the farming community.
Asserting that the border areas had been neglected first by the Congress and now by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, Mr Sukhbir Badal said “it is not too late to change the tide in favour of the border areas. Please vote for your regional party in the parliamentary election which will pave the way for the establishment of a SAD government in the next assembly polls. I assure you we will develop the entire border belt holistically. We will ensure the border with Pakistan is opened to give a fillip to trade in the area, bring in a special border area investment plan for establishment of industries in this belt and usher in super specialty medical services by establishing a Medical College in this constituency”.
Mr Badal also warned the people that the AAP government was readying to transfer the River waters of Punjab to Haryana and Delhi. “You already do not get canal water at the tail ends. This situation will get worse with chief minister Bhagwant Mann browbeating Canal Patwaris to file fictitious reports stating water was reaching the tail ends and that sufficient canal water was available in Punjab for irrigation purposes' '. He said this report, when submitted to the Supreme Court, would pave the way for the construction of the SYL canal through a court order. Asserting that the SAD would fight this conspiracy tooth and nail, Mr Badal also appreciated hundreds of Canal Patwars who had chosen suspension from service rather than obeying the illegal orders of the AAP government.
The SAD president also appealed to the people to compare the facilities they had received during the SAD tenure vis a vis Congress and AAP tenures. “The Shagun scheme and the SC Scholarship scheme have been closed. The atta-dal scheme and the old age pension scheme have been curtailed”. All development work has come to a halt”, he asserted while reminding the people how the erstwhile SAD government had presided over the construction of a sewerage facilities and a stadium in the constituency.
Mr Badal also spoke on how all the grievances of the people were resolved on the spot through Sangat Darshan programmes during SAD tenure while chief minister Bhagwant Mann had not even found the time to visit this area despite having contested the assembly election from Jalalabad in 2017.
Other leaders who accompanied the SAD president during his campaign included Vardev Singh Noni Maan, Jagsir Singh Babbu Jaimalwala, Jathedar Gurpal Singh Grewal, Satinder Singh Savi, Satinderjit Singh Manta, Ashok Aneja, Prem Kumar Valecha, Joginder Singh Jindu and Montu Vohra.