SAD chief Sukhbir Badal launches 'Youth for Punjab' campaign
Chandigarh, Aug 8 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal today launched the 'Youth for Punjab' campaign and vowed to start the "fight for justice" against the Congress and "outsider" Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and secure another term for the ruling SAD-BJP combine in the 2017 Assembly election in the state. Virtually sounding the poll bugle, Youth Akali Dal (YAD) supporters pledged to give a "befitting" reply to the Congress for "discriminating" against Punjab and the AAP for "defaming" Punjabis. They asserted that they would stand up for the "honour" of Punjab and propagate the teachings of the gurus for "all-round development" of the society. Sukhbir gave an "open challenge" to the Congress and the AAP to try their might against the YAD. "No amount of coffee-drinking bouts or defamation by outsiders will help either the defunct Captain (Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh) or the liar (Arvind) Kejriwal," he said. Claiming that the wave in favour of the SAD would percolate down to the grassroot level in the coming days, Sukhbir directed the party's general secretary, Bikram Singh Majithia, and YAD patron Sharanjit Dhillon to ensure that the campaign reached every constituency in the state. "Within three months, the Congress and the outsider 'topiwala' (Kejriwal) should be eradicated from the state," he said. Sukhbir claimed that in an unprecedented move, drug tests were conducted on over one lakh youth as part of the ongoing police recruitment process and all of them had come out with "flying colours". "Less than one per cent of the youngsters tested positive," he said. The Deputy Chief Minister claimed that all the development of Punjab, including two airports, thermal plants, Thein dam and "world class" road infrastructure, had taken place under the chief ministership of Parkash Singh Badal. "Even now, Badal's firm stance that Punjab does not have a single extra drop of water and that the (SYL) canal will not be allowed to be constructed at any cost has saved the farmers of the state and its fields from turning into deserts," he said and added that in a "direct contrast", Kejriwal had "betrayed" the farmers by first assuring them and then, taking Haryana's side in the Supreme Court. In a frontal attack on Kejriwal, Majithia asked the AAP leader not to "hoodwink and deceive" Punjabis with his "lies" such as offering 25 lakh jobs, knowing well that he would have to dish out 1,350 jobs per day and one job per minute for five years to fulfil this "fake" promise
