DW BUREAU / Gurdaspur

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the SAD was committed to taking everyone along in the path of progress and prosperity even as he accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ? Congress alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of polarizing people on caste and communal lines respectively.

The SAD president, who addressed massive rallies at Dina Nagar, Bhoa, Sujanpur and Pathankot in favour of party candidate Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, said "attempts are being made to make one community fight against the other for electoral gains. This is condemnable. People constituting one per cent of the population have as many rights over the country as 99 per cent of the population".

Asserting that divisive politics would be comprehensively rejected in the parliamentary elections, Mr Sukhbir Badal said "we are already witnessing a rebound against divisive politics in Haryana and Delhi. In Punjab also people have made up their mind to vote for the SAD as it is a regional force which is committed to putting Punjab first and will never compromise on the most vital issues of the State like its river waters and the capital city of Chandigarh".

Badal also made a case for strengthening the SAD to safeguard the religious institutions of the Panth. He said the RSS had taken over the management of Takht Hazur Sahib and Sri Patna Sahib. Even the Shiromani Committee was broken to create a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana. "It is high time you woke up to reject such parties which are targeting and weakening your religious institutions".

The SAD president also appealed to Punjabis to remember June 1, 1984 when they went to the polling stations to cast their votes on the same date next month. "Indira Gandhi attacked Sri Darbar Sahib with tanks and mortars and even destroyed Sri Akal Takht Sahib. Subsequently Sikhs were massacred in the streets of Delhi and elsewhere as part of a Congress sponsored program. The community can never forgive the Congress for these sins against the Sikh community and humanity".

Badal also spoke on how all development activity had been stopped in this constituency during the last seven years. "So many bridges need to be taken up for execution but the previous Congress and now AAP government have done nothing for this area. Even the Thein dam tourism project conceived by me to turn this area into a tourism hub has been put in the cold storage. All the AAP government is interested in is giving a free rein to illegal mining which has even compromised national security with even army infrastructure coming under threat", Mr Badal added.
(editor@dailyworld.in)