AMRITSAR: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the SAD- BSP alliance would form the next government in Punjab on its own steam even as he asserted the Congress party would meet a crushing defeat and would not cross the 20 seat figure mark.
The SAD president was talking to newsmen after paying obeisance at Sri Harmandar Sahib along with former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Asserting that the SAD was the voice of the ‘panth’ and Punjab, Mr. Sukhbir Badal said “we hope to get another chance to serve the people of the State so that we can take the State to a new era of peace and prosperity”.
When questioned about the exit polls which had predicted that the AAP would do well in Punjab, Mr Sukhbir Badal said “last time the same polls gave AAP 100 seats. They got twenty. This time also the exit polls have got their figures wrong. Our feedback is that the SAD-BSP alliance will secure a majority in the State. We will secure 16 to 17 seats in the Majha region alone”, he told journalists in answer to a question.
Answering a question, Mr Badal said education would be the top most priority of the next SAD-BSP government. “We will create new modern schools which will provide integrated education to students in each block”. He said the next government would introduce transparency in government functioning to end the era of scams under Congress rule including the earlier SC Scholarship scam and the recent job scam. Answering a query, he also asserted that a false case had been registered against Mr Bikram Singh Majithia and that the SAD would fight this vendetta case in courts.
When questioned about the Punjab government’s failure to coordinate the evacuation of its students who were trapped in Ukraine, Mr Badal said “the Punjab government should have sent its team to Ukraine to not only coordinate the evacuation of students but also offer them immediate humanitarian aid”. He said it was unfortunate that instead of doing this, chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi was busy in indulging in dramas. “It seems Channi does not realize that the polls are over and that he cannot influence voters any longer with such acts. He may be the chief minister for a few days more but he must do his duty towards the State and its citizens”.
Demanding that both exit as well as opinion polls should be banned, Mr Badal said “it seems that governments have started misusing these polls to influence voters. The polls have become paid polls. The Election Commission should look into this and ban such polls immediately”.