Sukhbir Badal harps on Akali Dal's 'Punjabi' identity

Underscoring that Shiromani Akali Dal has a presence in every village of Punjab and can understand people's aspirations better than anyone, its chief Sukhbir Badal says he is confident voters will this time choose the state-based party and not those which are "remote-controlled by Delhi".

Political pundits and observers can discount Akali Dal at their own peril, Badal says while stressing that its "house and alliance are in order", unlike that of rivals, and it has the "first-mover advantage.”

Talking to PTI, the Akali Dal chief also said that the BSP is a “much better ally” than the BJP and ruled out the possibility of coming together with the saffron party again.

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“Akali Dal is among the oldest parties of Punjab and is the only Punjab-based Punjabi party, a party of farmers. No one can understand the psyche of Punjab better than us as we are not remote-controlled by Delhi,” Badal said on the sidelines of a rally in Raikot.

With the music of the party's theme song for the election “Sada Veer Sukhbir” playing loud behind him, Badal, pointing towards his party workers, says his cadre is motivated and will deliver the victory for the party.

Seeking to regain its turf, the SAD is trying to connect with people with small rallies where feasts are organised while its catchy campaign song plays loudly.

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"We have a presence in every village and every habitation of Punjab. People of Punjab will choose their own party, not the ones remotely controlled by Delhi,” he said.

The alliance had on Tuesday made a strong pitch for “Punjab for Punjabis”, while releasing its poll manifesto that promised 75 per cent reservation in jobs in government and private sectors for domiciled youths and quota for local students in education institutions, besides many freebies, if it is elected to power in the state in the February 20 election.

Battling anti-incumbency after a 10-year rule, Akali Dal, which had contested with the BJP in 2017, had won 15 seats out of 94, while the BJP got three seas out of 23. SAD's vote share declined 9.4 per cent to 25.2 per cent.

The Congress had won with 77 seats and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged as the main opposition with 20 seats, though pre-poll surveys had predicted a better performance for Arvind Kejriwal's party.

Also Read | People of Punjab will give clear mandate to Congress: Harish Rawat

On the question of the emergence of AAP, Badal dubbed it as a “bunch of opportunists and turncoats”, and said it won 20 seats last time and got "dismantled" after that.

“People have seen through AAP, and like the Congress and the BJP, it is remote controlled by Delhi. As far as the Congress is concerned it is declining with every passing day,” he said.

When asked about the Akali Dal's alliance with the BSP after parting ways with the BJP, Badal said BJP had a presence in only a few seats while the BSP can contribute to it in most of the segments.

"We had joined hands with the BJP for the unity and betterment of Punjab. But for the sake of our state, we ended our association with them.

“The BSP is also a cadre-based party like Akali Dal in Punjab and it can contribute to us in almost all seats, while the BJP was only a few seats' players in the region,"' he said.

The Akali Dal had snapped its decades-old alliance with the BJP in protest against contentious farm laws which has triggered widespread protests in the state.

Also Read — Congress is original, AAP its xerox: Modi says both parties only looted Punjab

On the question of any chances of post-poll alliance with the BJP, Badal replied in the negative.

''They are not winning many. The seats which we used to give them, now we have our own candidates and workers there," he said.

"The BJP should look into the history and see we stood by them when nobody was touching them. We made the untouchables touchable. We extended support to them unconditionally,” he said.

Responding to a question of Dera Sach Sauda head Ram Rahim being released before elections and Dera Beas head meeting the prime minister, Badal said, ”I don’t know about Dera Beas but giving parole to the head of Dera Sacha Sauda is a complete political game. He will try to persuade his followers to vote for one specific party.”

The SAD had suffered a major setback in the Malwa region, which has 69 of the 117 seats, in the last election. While 40 seats were won by Congress, 18 were bagged by AAP.

SAD patriarch Prakash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal are contesting from Lambi in Bathinda and Jalalabad in Fazilka respectively. Both are in the Malwa region.

Badal’s wife and former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who has been addressing four-five small rallies in a day, mostly in Malwa, sounds confident of the party’s performance in the assembly polls.

“I know there are some who are discounting us. We are active and kicking on the ground and the results will surprise many,” she said, adding that there are some who make noise while there are others who are working silently.

Sharing a meal with women workers of the party after addressing a rally, Harsimrat Badal speaks of the old-age pension and help centres for providing assistance started by the previous Akali government.

”This will all begin in coming months as Akalis are forming a government,” she says.

In her rallies, she tries to strike an emotional chord, speaking of the history of Akali Dal and telling the people it is their own party.

Both husband and wife specifically talk about jobs and reiterate their promise of a 75 per cent quota.

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