Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today appealed to Punjabis to extend their wholehearted support to the Punjab Bachao Yatra starting from February 1 to save the future of the State and its people.
Addressing a mammoth political conference at the historic Maghi Mela here, the SAD president said “we have to save Punjab from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as well as its chief minister Bhagwant Mann who has bankrupted the State and destroyed its economy besides failing on all fronts by betraying each and every section of society”.
Badal also appealed to Punjabis to shun the AAP – Congress alliance being formed to contest the next parliamentary elections jointly. “Both these parties have looted you and the State and now they propose to loot your vote by arriving at an unholy alliance which is detrimental to the interests of the State”.
Sukhbir Badal also appealed to all Akali leaders who had parted ways with the parent party on one pretext or another to return back to the party fold. “Our State is under attack from the Congress and AAP, both of which are jointly responsible for our present plight. We must defeat their unholy alliance to ensure Punjab wins”. He added only a regional party like the SAD whose sole purpose was to protect the welfare of Punjabis and fight to secure their rights could take the State forward. “This will be a true homage to S Parkash Singh Badal”, he added.
Badal also urged Punjabis to recognise the true character of both the Congress and AAP. He said the Congress had attacked Sri Darbar Sahib with tanks and mortars in 1984 besides sponsoring the genocide of Sikhs in Delhi and across the country. He said similarly the AAP government had attacked Gurdwara Akal Bunga Sahib in Sultanpur Lodhi and fired on the peaceful Sangat. He said both parties were anti- Punjab and had teamed up to weaken the SAD as they knew that the SAD alone stood in their way to achieving their nefarious goals.
Leading a frontal attack on chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Badal said “how can you trust a chief minister who was deboarded from a plane in Frankfurt because he was in a drunken state”. He said Bhagwant Mann had failed as home minister as he had failed to stop his legislators from taking monthlies from drug smugglers who were even preventing the police from acting against drug king pins. He also cited how the State industry was migrating to Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh because the chief minister had failed to maintain law and order in the State.
Speaking on the occasion, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami urged the Sikh community to recognise the traitors in their midst who were trying to prevent forging of unity in the Panth. He said, «Such forces had been unsettled by the clear hearted apology of Sukhbir Singh Badal at Sri Akal Takht Sahib. He also appealed to the Sangat to register their votes for the forthcoming SGPC elections to strengthen the Panth.
