SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal slammed the Punjab AAP government over debt and governance while welcoming former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur back. He promised to restore welfare schemes if voted to power to save the state.
Sukhbir Badal Targets AAP Govt As Bibi Jagir Kaur Rejoins Akali Dal
Bholath (Punjab) [India], November 15 (ANI): Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday asserted that the Akali Dal is the "only option to save Punjab," while mounting a sharp attack on the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over alleged focus on publicity, rising state debt, and safety issues in buses under the state's pilgrimage scheme. Addressing a gathering in Bholath on a day when former Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) president Bibi Jagir Kaur rejoined the party, Badal said the SAD has always respected all religions and worked for the welfare of every section of society.
Recalling the tenure of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, he stated that special welfare schemes had been introduced for all communities during the SAD regime, alleging that successive Congress and AAP governments discontinued several public-interest facilities. Targeting Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Badal said, "The present dispensation had prioritised advertisements and self-promotion over governance and public welfare. He claimed that Mann had not even attended the Chief Minister's Office properly and accused the government of relying solely on publicity to project achievements. The SAD chief further alleged that Punjab's mounting debt was the result of the Mann government's "unclear intentions" and preference for advertisements over development work."
Questioning the state government's Tirath Yatra Yojana, Badal alleged that "unfit buses" were being operated under the scheme, putting elderly pilgrims at risk and resulting in fatalities and injuries. He also claimed that a bus operating under the pilgrimage scheme narrowly avoided colliding with his convoy on Sunday. Promising to restore discontinued welfare programmes if voted to power, Badal said, "An Akali Dal government would relaunch the Atta-Dal scheme along with cattle fairs, development grants, and other public welfare measures. He also pledged strict action against drug trafficking and gangsterism in the state".
Speaking on Bibi Jagir Kaur's return to the party fold, the SAD president said, "Appointing her as the mukhya sevadar (constituency in-charge) of the Bholath assembly segment would unite Akali leaders and significantly strengthen the party's grassroots base across the Doaba region". Responding to a question regarding the selection of the SGPC president, Badal noted that Bibi Jagir Kaur is an SGPC member and maintained that the decision on who heads the apex Sikh gurdwara body rests with SGPC members. Earlier in the day, former Punjab cabinet minister and four-time SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur formally rejoined the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD in Kapurthala district after quitting the breakaway SAD (Punar Surjit). (ANI)
