Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the SAD-BSP alliance alone deserved a chance to serve Punjabis again to bring back the era of development and all round peace and prosperity.The SAD President, who was addressing public gatherings in favour of party candidates Gurpreet Singh Rajukhanna at Mandi Gobindgarh (Amloh) and Charanjit Singh Brar at Banur & Rajpura, said the erstwhile SAD led government had done record development be it making the State power surplus to creating world class roads and even establishing air connectivity. “The Congress government has wasted the last five years. Now we have another player - AAP which is trying to dupe Punjabis in the same manner as the Congress party”.Asking Punjabis not to be taken in by the guarantees of AAP, Mr Sukhbir Badal said “AAP has not extended any of the social benefits it is promising in Punjab including providing Rs 1,000 per month to all women, to the residents of Delhi”. He said the people of Delhi also did not get any social welfare benefits including old age pension, aata- daal and Shagun schemes. “Farmers in Delhi do not get free power.
Even power is available at exorbitant rates of Rs 12 to Rs 13 per unit”.Mr Badal said Punjabis were well aware of AAP’s past record on Punjab issues. “It filed affidavits in the Supreme Court demanding Punjab’s river waters be given to Delhi and Haryana. It also demanded the closure of four thermal plants of Punjab besides calling for registering criminal cases against those indulging in stubble burning”. He also lambasted Arvind Kejriwal for selling party tickets to the highest bidder. He said the party was also vitiating the political atmosphere in the State by giving party tickets to persons against whom criminal cases had been registered. “AAP has given the party ticket in Bathinda Rural to former SAD leader Amit Rattan who was expelled from the party for swindling his constituents. It has also given the party ticket to a proclaimed offender in Ghanaur constituency”.Speaking about the Congress government, Mr Badal said “it is for the first time in the history of the State that you have witnessed Congress legislators like Hardyal Kamboj and Madan Lal Jalalpur leading liquor and sand mafias”. He said the Congress government had also witnessed closure of Sewa Kendras besides an end to the CM Teerath Yatra scheme, ending distribution of sports kits and even stoppage of the World Kabaddi Cup.
He said besides this the government had reneged on all promises made to the people be it waiving off agricultural loans, providing jobs in each household, extending unemployment allowance of Rs 2,500 per month and increasing old age pension and Shagun scheme benefits to Rs 2,500 per month and Rs 51,000 respectively.Asserting that the SAD did not believe in taking oaths like the Congress party, Mr Badal said “we have always stood by our commitments”. He said the SAD- BSP alliance was committed to giving Rs 2,000 per month to women heads of families of below poverty line families. He said besides this the next alliance government would give five Marla plots to all those who did not have a house of their own. “Where village common land is not available for distribution to the poor we will purchase land and provide plots to the homeless”. He also announced that all those who did not have a single tubewell connection would get one on priority immediately after the formation of the SAD- BSP government.Mr Badal also announced the next government would create one lakh government jobs and ten lakh jobs in the private sector. He said the alliance was also committed to giving 33 per cent reservation in Technical institutes to students from government schools whose tuition cost would also be borne by the State. He also announced that 75 per cent jobs in the private sector would be reserved for Punjabis.