Sukhbir S Badal to undertake 100 day yatra across 100 constituencies starting from Zira

(Also releases charge sheet against Cong govt and AAP)

(Says CM Capt Amarinder has destroyed Punjab, names five ministers along with the scams perpetrated by them)

(Launches campaign Gall Punjab Di along with a missed call number service)

Chandigarh, August 17 – Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced he would undertake a hundred day yatra across hundred constituencies starting from tomorrow from Zira to expose the corrupt and scam ridden Congress government even as he released a charge sheet against it as well as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

Addressing a specially convened press conference here to launch the party campaign ‘Gall Punjab Di’, the SAD President he would hold seven hundred public meetings and address each and every section of society during his hundred day yatra during the course of which SAD workers would go to each and every village and ward in the State. He said the purpose of this exercise was two fold – to bring the corruption done by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s government as well as his council of ministers before the people as well as collect feedback from them as to what they expected from the next SAD-BSP government. He also released a missed call number service with number 96878 96878 to invite Punjabis to join the party’s campaign as well as share their aspirations with the party. A website www.GallPunjabDi.in was also launched on the occasion.

Sukhbir Badal also released the charge sheet against the Congress and AAP on the occasion. He said while chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh had a lot to answer vis a vis the Rs 6,500 crore excise scam, five of his ministerial colleagues were accused of indulging in corruption. He said while Sadhu Singh Dharamsot was involved in the SC scholarship scam, Sukhjinder Randhawa was involved in the seed scam, Balbir Sidhu in the Covid procurement as well as deaddication tablets scam, Bharat Bhushan Ashu in the wheat scam and Shyam Sunder Arora in the JCT land scam.

Taking the chief minister head on, Mr Badal said Capt Amarinder Singh had destroyed Punjab in the last four and a half years. He said Punjab had the misfortune of having a chief minister who did not come out of his home, did not meet even his own ministers, did not listen to the people and even teachers seeking to meet him were thrashed brutally. He said the only work the Capt Amarinder Singh government had done was to loot the State treasury. “Nothing has been done in the way of development. In fact gangsters have been patronized and are wantonly running extortion rackets from inside State jails”.

The SAD President while elaborating on the Congress and AAP leadership in the State, said in his life he had only seen three leaders who had taken an oath and broken it without any qualms. “Capt Amarinder Singh took an oath on the holy Gutka Sahib and broke it by not fulfilling his promise to eradicate drugs, ensure a complete Rs 90,000 crore loan waiver and provide jobs in each household”. He said similarly AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal had sworn an oath on his children not to have any truck with the Congress party but broke it within days. “Even Punjab AAP Convener Bhagwant Mann swore on his mother to leave drinking alcohol but never honoured the same”.

Stating that the SAD alone represented the regional aspirations of Punjabis who had been betrayed by both the Congress and AAP, Mr Badal said in the Congress the State unit received its orders from the Gandhi family which had a history of being anti-Punjab. He said the Congress party had not only indulged in scams but had followed its central leadership announcement and even amended the APMC Act. He said the Congress had also mismanaged the Covid crisis besides causing untold misery to farmers by failing to supply power to them during the paddy season.

Speaking about Arvind Kejriwal,  Badal said the AAP Convener wanted to implement a failed Delhi model in Punjab. He said Kejriwal was a master of deceit. “He is known to have taken opposite stands on the SYL issue in Punjab and outside the State. He has also taken an anti-Punjab stand on the issue of stubble burning besides filing a petition in the apex court demanding the closure of thermal plants of Punjab”. He said Kejriwal had also played a hoax on farmers by supposedly supporting them but simultaneously notified the farm laws for implementation in Delhi. He said even the 200 units free power scheme was a fraud because 90 per cent of  Delhi citizens could not avail it as consumers had to pay the full price even if they clocked one unit more than 200 units. “Even the Mohalla clinic and school improvement claims are bogus”, he said adding as many as 650 colonies in Delhi were receiving water from tankers despite Kejriwal’s promise to supply piped water across the State.

 Badal said in direct contrast to the Congress and AAP, the SAD had a credible leadership which had always delivered on its commitments. “We are committed to meeting the aspirations of Punjabis at all costs”, he declared adding “Gall Raj Di Nahi, Gall Punjab Di Hai”.