Sukhbir Badal sounds poll bugle with attack against Amarinder Singh's misrule

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday formally blew the poll bugle with a blistering attack against Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for "presiding over four years of brazen misrule".

Shirom Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday formally blew the poll bugle with a blistering attack against Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for "presiding over four years of brazen misrule".

Addressing a massive rally at the Anaj Mandi here, the SAD president also challenged the chief minister to tell one thing he had done for the people of the state in the last four years and said "You will have to answer for your failings. People will not remain quiet any longer".

According to a press release, Badal told the people of this constituency: "You have given me so much love since the first time I came to represent you in 2009. I have tried my best to return this love and delivered on all the promises made to you be it constructing cement streets in all villages, upgrading schools, opening a Girls College, constructing a Rs 50 crore hospital and a Rs 25 crore stadium. I have a strong bond with the people of Jalalabad and will maintain it for my lifetime".

Hitting at Amarinder Singh, Badal said the former had committed the biggest sacrilege by taking a false oath in the name of the holy Gutka Sahib and the Dasam Pitah.

He said farmers, who had been promised a Rs 90,000 crore complete loan waiver, had been saddled with an additional burden of Rs 15,000 crore because they did not pay their installments believing the word of Amarinder Singh.

He said, similarly the youth had been tricked into filling forms for jobs that remained in the air. "No youth had received the Rs 2,500 per month unemployment allowance promised by the Congress party in the run-up to the 2017 assembly elections".

Asking the chief minister to give details of one road, one hospital, one college, one airport or even one electricity grid undertaken by him, the SAD president said: "The only work done is through the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme in case of which also central funds have been embezzled by Congress legislators who have even established their own paver tile factories for this purpose", as per the press release.

He said the chief minister was least interested in the development of the state. "He has been to Punjab for a few times in the last four years and visited his office only eleven times".

Speaking about Congress legislator Raminder Awla, the SAD president said the former had spread the word that he is extremely rich and that he would bring in factories into the constituency besides creating jobs for the youth.

"People want to know where the jobs he had promised are", Badal said adding that forget doing anything, the poor and disadvantaged had suffered during the Congress tenure with 16,000 aata-daal cards being struck off the rolls from this constituency itself.

He said similarly old-age pensions had been deleted from the constituency. He said the Congress legislator had also got false cases registered against Akali workers for which he would have to answer once the SAD formed the government in the state in 2022.

Badal said even now after being in four years, the Congress government was introducing new taxes through the back door by doubling registration charges for motorcycles and cars. He said power tariff had been hiked more than fifteen times even as the state was charging the most VAT on petrol and diesel.

The SAD president announced that once elected to power, the party would halve power tariff charges for domestic consumers.

He said the SAD government would also repeal the three agricultural laws besides establishing an MSP (Minimum support price) for vegetables, fruits and milk.

"We will also ensure payment of commission to 'arhatiyas' on behalf of the Punjab government if the Centre discontinues the same besides ensuring cement streets, piped drinking water and concrete drains in all 12,000 villages in the state," he added, the press release reads.

The assembly elections in Punjab is scheduled to be held next year.

( With inputs from ANI )