Sukhbir S. Badal condemns the anti-farmer alliance BJP-AAP

SHAHID BHAGAT SINGH NAGAR: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal condemned the anti-farmer Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alliance that had consistently denied justice to farmers and had resulted in the death of a farmer during a protest in Patiala Today.

Expressing deep condolences over the death of Surinderpal Singh who succumbed during a protest against BJP candidate Preneet Kaur in Patiala today, the SAD president said, “The BJP and AAP have formed an alliance against the farmers and are denying them justice. This has prolonged the farmers’ unrest in Punjab and is causing misery to the entire farming community.”

Mr. Sukhbir Badal told the BJP and AAP to stop protecting corporate interests: “This is not the first time that the BJP and AAP are playing as a team. Earlier, during the farmers’ agitation two months ago, the AAP government refused to take action against the Haryana police, who gassed our farmers and even attacked them with rubber bullets and live ammunition to stop them from going to Delhi.”

Mr. Badal asked the Punjabis to see through this conspiracy and appealed to them to close the borders of Punjab to all outside parties with their votes to oppose the BJP-AAP combine, which had closed the borders by force closed to prevent farmers from going to Delhi.

Mr Badal also took on Prime Minister Bhagwant Mann for discriminating against the Scheduled Caste community and poorer sections of the society during his ongoing Punjab Bachao Yatra, which received massive response in both Banga and Nawanshahr constituencies. He said it was shocking that all social benefits meant for the weaker sections were being curtailed and even used for advertisements and propaganda exercises besides aircraft rental and AAP election campaigns in other states. “This amounts to criminal negligence through state resources,” Mr Badal said, adding that Rs 1,000 crore had been spent on advertisements alone. We will investigate this scam and ensure that all those who discriminated against our scheduled caste brethren are appropriately punished once the SAD is returned to power,” Mr Badal added.

SAD senior leader Dr Sukhwinder Kumar and party Nawanshehr president Sukhdeep Singh Sukarpur also informed the SAD president how thousands of atta-dal and old age pension cards had been removed in both constituencies. They also disclosed that young brides had not received Shagun benefits from the government for over a year.

Mr Badal also interacted with youth who said they were forced to go abroad as the AAP government did not give them jobs. They said the few hundred jobs given during the AAP period were given to outsiders on the direct orders of AAP president Arvind Kejriwal. They also complained that the drug menace had increased and the AAP lawmakers were protecting the drug mafia. The SAD President, while listening patiently, assured the youth that creating employment in government and private sectors and eradicating the menace of drugs and gangsters would be the first priority of the next SAD government.

Senior leader Jarnail Singh Wahid and Democratic Party of India (DPI) chairman Rohan Chadha also accompanied the SAD president during the Yatra. EOM