KHEMKARAN: Former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today said women of Punjab would defeat the conspiracies to weaken the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) by reposing faith in the regional party which had always safeguarded their aspirations.
Addressing a mammoth gathering of women the likes of which has never been witnessed in the border belt earlier, the former union minister while thanking the women for coming out to support the SAD in such huge numbers said “you have today proven that when women decide to take a stand no one can come in the way. It is now clear that just like West Bengal, where women played a big role in Mamta Bannerjee’s victory, the women of Punjab will also be instrumental in the victory of the SAD-BSP combine in the forthcoming assembly elections' '.
Asserting that conspiracies to weaken the SAD were nothing new, Mrs Harsimrat Badal said this was always done on the eve of elections in Punjab. “Earlier in 2012 you witnessed the formation of the People's Party of Punjab (PPP) which was dissolved after the polls and became a part of the Congress party”. She said now again the Congress and the BJP were trying their utmost to target the SAD. “While the Congress party has politicized the issue of sacrilege for five years and is even now refusing to take action in the case of recent sacrilege incidents committed at the Sri Darbar Sahib, the BJP is directly interfering in the internal matters of the Sikh community”.
Mrs Badal went on to say that Congressmen had committed the biggest sacrilege when they joined hands with former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to take a false oath in the name of the Dasam Pitah on the eve of the 2017 elections. She said the BJP had used former Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) President Manjinder Singh Sirsa to take over control of the Sikh institution.
The Bathinda MP appealed to Punjabis to leave aside petty differences and unite behind the SAD which had a proven track record of serving the people and bringing in peace and progress in the State. “All social welfare schemes including the ‘aata – daal’ scheme, ‘shagun’ scheme and the old age pension scheme were introduced by S Parkash Singh Badal. The SAD is continuing in the footsteps of Sardar Badal and has promised to implement the Mata Khivi scheme which ensures an allowance of Rs 2, 000 per month to all women from under- privileged sections of society”.
Asserting that the Congress government was totally unresponsive towards the people, Mrs Badal said things had come to such a pass that Pradesh Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu had even tried to run over NRHM nurses protesting outside his residence. “A tragedy on the lines of Lakhimpur Kheri was narrowly averted even as one nurse was injured”.
Senior SAD leader Virsa Singh Valtoha while speaking on the occasion said the SAD alone had taken all sections of society with it during its previous governments. He gave the example of how free power facility was extended to the agriculture sector. He said in direct contrast Congressmen had promised the moon but had not fulfilled even one of their promises be it ensuring jobs to each household, unemployment allowance of Rs 2, 500 per month, mobile phones to students and enhancement of the ‘shagun’ scheme to Rs 51, 000 per month.