Chandigarh, Jan 25 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday claimed that the ruling Congress will be routed in next month’s Punjab Assembly polls while his party’s alliance will sweep the polls, winning over 80 seats.
The Aam Aadmi Party will win less than 10 seats, he claimed.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is contesting the polls in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
According to the seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties, the BSP is contesting 20 of the 117 Assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD.
“The Congress is heading towards a total rout. AAP won’t be able to touch the double digits,” Badal said while further claiming that SAD-BSP alliance will win over 80 seats.
Addressing a series of poll meetings in favour of party candidates in Ludhiana, Badal said the SAD-BSP is poised to return to power and added that the “rule of goondaism is here for just a few days more”.
“Era of peace and all-round development will resume on March 10 (when poll results are announced) with our alliance’s landslide win,” he said.
Badal claimed that SAD is the only party which has genuine concern for the people of Punjab while decisions of parties like AAP and the Congress are taken by their party high command sitting in Delhi.
“These parties don’t have any real pain, real concern for the state. Their sole purpose is to grab power, but not to take Punjab forward. Even people of Ludhiana know all development, which took place here was when the SAD was in power,” said Badal.
He said he has been touring Punjab for the past three months and knows the pulse of people.
“I have covered more than 100 constituencies. You will be surprised when results come out,” he told the gathering, seeking to differ than what some pre-poll surveys are projecting.
“In Doaba region, the SAD-BSP will win 18-19 seats out of 23. In Majha, it is going to be a one way sweep in our favour. AAP’s fight is limited to Sangrur and Barnala. I can give you in writing today that AAP will get less than 10 seats in Punjab while the Congress will be routed. The SAD-BSP will cross more than 80 seats,” he said.
While holding a meeting in favour of party candidate Harish Rai Dhanda from Atam Nagar, Badal urged workers to fight unitedly to oust the Congress.
He targeted the Congress, saying it looted Punjab and pushed it backwards.
Badal also targeted Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi over recent raids of the Enforcement Directorate.
The ED had last week said it seized Rs 10 crore in cash, including about Rs 8 crore from the premises of Channi’s relative.
The raids were conducted in connection with an anti-money laundering investigation against illegal sand mining operations in the poll-bound state.
Badal said Channi only made tall announcements without doing anything concrete on the ground.
Badal hit out at AAP, saying it’s chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann has no vision for the state.
He also took on AAP for having a “divergent stand” on issues relating to Punjab. PTI SUN VSD RDK RDK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Source: The Print
