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Punjab assembly elections: To regain ground in Faridkot, Sukhbir leads poll campaign
With SAD president Sukhbir Badal’s third visit to Faridkot in the past six days for campaigning for the upcoming Punjab assembly elections, SAD is running a high-profile poll campaign in the district
With Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s third visit to Faridkot for the poll campaign in the past six days, the SAD is running a high-profile poll campaign in the district which was the centre of political storm in previous polls due to 2015 sacrilege incidents.
The Bargari sacrilege and the Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan police firing incidents of 2015 had played a major role in the 2017 assembly election and the 2019 Lok Sabha election which forced SAD to go with a low-key poll campaign in the district during both elections. The SAD, which had a stronghold in the district in the past, ended third in the 2017 poll results due to the public outburst over the sacrilege and police firing incidents.
But this time, Sukhbir is leading a high-profile poll campaign with his frequent visits to the district, which was the epicentre of sacrilege incidents in 2015. Meanwhile, no senior leader of Congress and AAP has campaigned for their candidates in the past month.
On Saturday, Sukhbir addressed large gatherings in favour of party candidates Parambans Singh Romana in Faridkot, Suba Singh Badal in Jaitu and Mantar Singh Brar in Kotkapura. Earlier, Sukhbir had visited the district on Monday after filing his nomination and later on Tuesday.
While SAD is pushing hard to regain its ground in the district, the journey is not as easy as in a suspected triangular fight, Aam Aadmi Party and Congress are giving strong challenges on all three seats. SAD last won all three seats was in 2002, but later in 2007, the party lost on all three seats. While SAD managed to retain Faridkot and Kotkapura in the 2012 election, the newly carved Jaitu assembly segment went to Congress.
AAP not giving social welfare benefit to people of Delhi: Sukhbir
The AAP government in Delhi was not giving any social benefit to the people of Delhi under its “Delhi Model” and it would end all social welfare benefits extended to Punjabis by former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, if elected to power, claimed Sukhbir while addressing a gathering in Faridkot. He also claimed that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal sold party tickets to the highest bidder.
He also announced that if Parambans Romana is elected from Faridkot, he will be inducted into the state cabinet if the SAD-BSP alliance forms the government.
Attacking Congress, Sukhbir said this the government had reneged on all promises made to the people be it waiving agricultural loans, providing jobs in each household, extending unemployment allowance of ₹2,500 per month and increasing old-age pension and Shagun scheme benefits to ₹2,500 per month and ₹51,000, respectively.
He said the SAD-BSP alliance was committed to giving ₹2,000 per month to women heads of families below the poverty line. “The SAD-BSP 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, we will purchase land and provide plots to the homeless,” he said. 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.
