Bathinda: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said cleaning up Satluj and Beas rivers would be a top priority if the party comes to office in Punjab and that he would not allow even a drop of polluted effluents from either factories or sewer lines to flow into the state’s rivers.Addressing a rally as part of the Punjab Bachao movement at Bhairupa in Bathinda on Saturday, Sukhbir said polluted water is the reason for the spread of cancer in the Malwa region.
He said SAD was also committed to ending gunda raj and the drug mafia. “If extortions and targeted killings were not enough, now even youth were being killed in false encounters by the state police. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann has turned Punjab into a police state. The police are being used rampantly to target farmers, employees, political opponents and even the media. I assure Punjabis, once elected to office, the SAD will usher in peace and communal harmony and bring back people’s rule. We will also deal with gangsters and the drug mafia sternly,” he added.Commenting on Rahul Gandhi’ message to the state congress, Sukhbir said he (Rahul Gandhi) had come to the state not out of any concern for Punjabis or to set any positive agenda for his party. “He was here only to quell the dissidence in Punjab Congress. He understands the party is on the verge of disintegration with all its leaders at each other’s throats. He is on a desperate mission to save the party but will never succeed as Punjabis have seen repeated Congress govts, all of which don’t have one thing to show by way of development, infrastructure projects or social welfare benefits,” Sukhbir added.He also announced govt jobs would be reserved only for Punjabis and that there would be 75% reservation in industries for Punjabi youth who would also be eligible for an interest fee Rs 10 lakh loan.Senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia accused the AAP govt of trying to purchase votes at the fag end of their tenure by deciding to give Rs 1,000 per month to women. “If the AAP government is serious about providing any relief to the womenfolk they should release Rs 60,000 which is due to each woman of the state immediately”. He also highlighted the withdrawal of security of artists Jordan Sandhu and Gippy Grewal after they were associated with the SAD.Former minister Sikandar Singh Maluka who organised the rally also addressed the rally.
