Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi says even women folk not safe in Punjab under AAP rule.

Jandhar, May 7 – Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) – Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) joint candidate Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi today said women folk were not safe in Punjab with chief minister Bhagwant Mann even ordering the arrest of a television journalist simply because the woman had reported that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had spent Rs 44 crore on renovating his official residence.

Addressing a huge public meeting here along with SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal in the Cantonment constituency, the SAD-BSP joint candidate said the chief minister was ready to do anything to save his chair. “Just like he ordered the arrest of television journalist Bhawana Kishore, he also registered stringent cases under the National Security Act (NSA) against innocent Sikh youth at the instance of Arvind Kejriwal and the central government. He has also registered cases against intellectuals and artists for speaking the truth besides banning various web channels simply because they did not become tools to spread the propaganda of his political masters”.

Asserting that the fight in this by poll involved a fight between those who practiced probity in public life as per the ideals set by S Parkash Singh Badal and those who were ready to spout any lie to get votes. He said Punjabis had been cheated twice. “Capt Amarinder Singh came to power in the State vowing on the holy Gutka Sahab that he would waive off all farmer loans but did not do so. Similarly AAP swore that it would provide government jobs to youth and Rs 1,000 per month to all women but forgot about these promises once it was elected to power”.

Underlying the need to defeat both the Congress and AAP, Dr Sukhi said “both these parties have cheated you”. He said a victory for the SAD-BSP alliance candidate would send out a clear signal that Punjabis wanted a return to the pro-people and pro-development policies of S Parkash Singh Badal”.

Dr Sukhi also highlighted how the AAP government was consistently discriminating against the Dalit community and how it had filed an affidavit in the high court stating that scheduled caste candidates did not have the required ability to serve as Law Officers in the State. “If the AAP government thinks that scheduled castes are not fit to become Law Officers then the AAP candidate is also not fit to be elected to the Lok Sabha and the Dalit community should make its opinion clear on this issue on May 10”, Dr Sukhi added.

Earlier senior SAD leader Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra also highlighted how the chief minister had failed to take up the issues of farmers with the centre which had resulted in the abolition of the Rural Development Fund (RDF) which was being collected by the State as well as reduction in the Mandi fee on food grains. He said both these decisions alone had cost the State Rs 2,000 crore per annum and would result in a breakdown of the rural infrastructure, particularly rural roads.