AMRITSAR Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday said once elected to power in 2022, the SAD-BSP alliance will develop the entire walled city of Amritsar on the lines of Heritage Walk to give a fillip to business and tourism activities.
“Promoting tourism in Sri Amritsar Sahib will be our priority. We will not only focus on beautifying the walled city to make it a bigger attraction but will also revive all projects which the Congress government has ignored,” he said while talking to mediapersons here after paying obeisance at the Golden Tenple, Pracheen Shivalya Temple and Gurdwara Atari Sahib (Sultanwind). He also interacted with representatives of medical associations and goldsmiths’ association during his visit to Tahliwala bazaar, besides addressing public gatherings in different areas of Amritsar South and North assembly segments. He was accompanied by senior leaders, including Anil joshi, Gurpartap Tikka and Talbir Gill.
Sukhbir said the previous SAD-led government had made Amritsar a tourist hub by developing the Heritage Walk besides creating other tourist spots such as Apna Pind and the Partition Museum. “The holy city had fallen victim to intra-party power games of the Congress, with no major development project taken up in Amritsar in the last nearly five years,” he said.
Responding to a media query regarding Navjot Sidhu announcing to sit on a silent protest, the SAD president asked Sidhu to first clear his current status in the party. Terming him a “drama master”, Badal said he would like to appeal to Sidhu to continue this silent protest for four months, if he really wished to do something good for the state. “It shouldn’t be like his previous one at Lakhimpur Kheri where he went on hunger strike post-dinner and broke it before the breakfast,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Responding to a media query regarding Navjot Sidhu announcing to sit on a silent protest, the SAD president asked Sidhu to first clear his current status in the party. Terming him a “drama master”, Badal said he would like to appeal to Sidhu to continue this silent protest for four months, if he really wished to do something good for the state. “It shouldn’t be like his previous one at Lakhimpur Kheri where he went on hunger strike post-dinner and broke it before the breakfast,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}‘Coal crisis result of
state govt’s failure’
He held the Congress government responsible for the ongoing coal crisis leading to power outages. “Neither the chief minister nor the power minister thought it fit to take up the issue with the central government. Even the private thermal plants were not held to account to keep coal stock at least for 30 days at all times,” Sukhbir said.
“Punjabis will also pay a heavy financial price because the state is now purchasing power at ₹11.60 per unit. Those opposing the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) done by the previous SAD government should now explain to the people the reasons behind their own failures. All sectors, including industry, are facing more than six-hour power cut, paralysing the state,” he said.