Sukhbir Badal launches election campaign
Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today launched a high-decibel election campaign, Youth for Punjab, amid a show of strength by its youth wing. The party’s young brigade from all 117 Assembly constituencies of the state converged here this week in their SUVs, choking the city’s arterial roads.
Challenging the “khoonipanja” (referring to the Congress and its alleged anti-Sikh policies) and the ‘Lutt-khosarkar’ (referring to the Aam Aadmi Party and its tainted MLAs), the Akali leaders went all out to spew venom on their political opponents.
Amid slogans such as “Punjab Akaliyan da, nakhooni panje da tenatopiwale da”, Akali ministers Bikram Singh Majithia and Sharanjit Singh Dhillon exhorted the hundreds of youth gathered here to repel those who knew nothing about Punjab and were trying to divide Sikhs and Punjabis.
Majithia also told the Youth Akali leaders and workers to increase awareness among the people about the development works initiated by the SAD-led government.
All sorts of names were used for AAP leaders, such as ‘Khujliwal’, ‘Natwar Lal’, alcoholics and ‘Shaitan’.
The young Akalis were told that just like the past two elections (2007 and 2012), the youth wing would be first activated this time.
Party president Sukhbir Singh Badal told the gathering: “Punjabis have always been discriminated against. Our sacrifices for the nation and our contribution towards ensuring India’s food security have been ignored by successive Congress governments.
“The Akali Dal is the only party that has been fighting for the Punjabis. Let us continue to do that.”
He added that 2.5 lakh youth had been employed in the state since 2007.
Sukhbir told the young party workers to act as foot soldiers of the Akali government.
