Chandigarh, April 30 – Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president and Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said in a democracy the people were kings and it was they who would pass judgement on the scam ridden Congress led UPA government at the centre and repose faith in the leadership of a NDA government with Shri Narendra Modi at its head.
In a statement here on the eve of polling in the State, the SAD president said he could sense a clear wave in favour of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and NDA prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Punjab and was confident that the SAD-BJP would sweep the parliamentary elections in the State by winning all 13 seats at stake. “There is palpable anger amongst the people against the UPA government which has caused inflation and unemployment and has discriminated against Punjab for ten years now”, he said.
The Deputy chief minister said he had also got a feeling during the campaign that the people were in favour of having the same government at the centre and the State to ensure speedy development. “Such a chance has now come after ten years and I am confident that the people will not let it go by”, he added.
Speaking about the SAD-BJP government in Punjab, Mr Badal said it had delivered despite constraints and discrimination in allocation of funds by the centre. “We have fulfilled the commitments made to the people be it making the State power surplus, introducing novel welfare schemes including the ‘aata -daal’ scheme, making government- citizen interface easier through governance reforms and introduction of ‘sannjh’ and ‘suvidha’ centres and even attracting investment by introducing unique incentives”.
The Deputy CM said the government was committed to delivering on major fronts once a NDA government was formed at the centre. “Badal Sahab has a unique relationship with Mr Narendra Modi and has already discussed a number of issues with the NDA prime ministerial candidate”. He said this included constructing houses for the houseless in both rural and urban areas, offering a remunerative minimum support price (msp) to the farmers and ensuring them full crop insurance besides working for an industrial package for the State. “We hope to deliver on all these issues once Mr Modi is sworn in as the next prime minister”, he added.
Speaking about the opposition Congress, the SAD president said the people should evaluate what the party could offer to the State and its people. “Everyone knows that all the senior leaders including Capt Amarinder Singh, Partap Singh Bajwa and Sunil Jakhar were reluctant candidates and were forced into the contest by the high command. Even today till the very last minute they are working against each other and have no hope of winning from their seats”, he said.
Mr Badal said it was for the people to decide why the Congress had not told the people of Punjab what the UPA government did for the State during the last ten years. “Six Punjab Congress leaders even served as Union ministers during this period. Even they failed to bring any major project to Punjab. The Punjab Congress has even failed to come out with its future vision for the State. All the party has done since the last nearly two months is run a negative propaganda against the SAD-BJP combine. We however have stuck to the positives and put our achievements before the people”, the SAD president added.