SAD announces statewide rallies ahead of 2027 Punjab poll

Chandigarh: Eyeing the 2027 assembly elections, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday announced that it would hold a series of rallies from next month in all the assembly constituencies of the state to make the Punjabis aware of the party's historic role in the development of the state, as well as its vision once it forms the govt next year.The decision was taken at a meeting of the district presidents and constituency in-charge of the party, which was presided over by Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal.Giving details of the meeting, senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema said Sukhbir Badal emphasised that successive SAD govts carried out unprecedented development in the state, be it making the state power surplus, connecting all major cities with four-lane roads, establishing new thermal plants and airports, or overhauling rural infrastructure.Cheema said it was a fact that the previous Congress govt and the present Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation failed to create a single new infrastructure, due to which the state suffered immensely. "We are committed to restarting a new era of development and infrastructure creation to take Punjab forward," he added.Emphasising that the SAD would appeal to the Punjabis to support their own regional party, Cheema said the SAD would also launch a people's movement against the anti-Punjab policies and decisions of the AAP govt. "We also assure Punjabis that we will take the state out of the present lawlessness, ensure peace and communal harmony, and bring back investment into Punjab to create jobs for our youth."The meeting also decided to complete the entire organisational structure by Feb 10. It was decided that the booth-level committees as well as the constitution of all party wings, including the Youth Akali Dal, Istri Akali Dal, Scheduled Caste, Backward Caste, and Trade wings, would be completed by then.It was decided that all leaders who played an important role in the recent block samiti and zila parishad elections should get an important role in the organisational structure.Cheema said the meeting took strong note of the manner in which panchayats were being coerced into paying the pending bills of the Tubewell Corporation. He said the panchayats were being ordered to pay the bills from the funds received for development of their villages from the Centre."We support all panchayats who are resisting these illegal orders, as the central funds which are earmarked for roads, sanitation, drinking water and street lighting cannot be used for paying water supply bills," he added.The Akali Dal leader also accused the state govt of playing fraud on Punjabis in the name of ‘Sehat Bima Yojana' launched by the AAP govt. He said the govt was indulging in publicity gimmicks by making grand announcements when it did not have any money to implement the medical insurance scheme.Cheema said the scheme was being used as a ploy to collect data for the AAP for use in the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections.MSID:: 127394606 413 |