SAD to launch poll campaign with mass contact programme from Feb 17

The decision was taken by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal in consultation with the senior party leadership, it said. According to senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema, the programme will start from Qadian and include 40 rallies across the state, culminating on Baisakhi on April 13.

The Shiromani Akali Dal on Thursday said it will begin a mass contact programme -- ''Punjab Bachao-Sukhbir Singh Badal Liyao'' -- from February 17, to launch its campaign for the 2027 Assembly elections. The decision was taken by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal in consultation with the senior party leadership, it said. ''We will take up all the burning issues of Punjab and offer our vision for the state. I am confident Punjabis will rally around the SAD, which alone is capable of fulfilling their aspirations,'' Badal said. According to senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema, the programme will start from Qadian and include 40 rallies across the state, culminating on Baisakhi on April 13. He said 28 rallies would be held till March 31, whose schedule has been finalised. The remaining 12 rallies will be held in April. Cheema said the SAD has always practised ethical politics. ''We have always stood by what we have promised. This time, we will offer our vision for the state, which will cover every section of the society and focus on maintaining peace and communal harmony,'' the former minister said. He said the party would spell out its stand on vital issues and its commitment to ensure their resolution. ''These include claiming Punjab's capital Chandigarh for itself and an end to the discrimination done to the state as far as its river waters are concerned,'' he said. Cheema said the party was concerned about the erosion of the country's federal structure and was committed to defending it strongly. ''Erosion of federalism has harmed Punjab financially, as it involves devolution of Central funds and the states' freedom to spend them as per their priorities,'' he said. The SAD leader said the crisis in agriculture, farmers' issues such as debts and suicides, and their suffering due to lack of compensation for crop loss in the 2025 floods, would be taken up at the rallies. The issue of making minimum support price a legal guarantee, reduction of fertiliser subsidies and the need to protect farmers' interests in the India-US trade deal would also be discussed. ''The need for specialised programmes to ensure the welfare of the scheduled caste community, increasing employment opportunities for the youth, exposing corruption, failure to maintain law and order, and shelter being provided to drug mafia by the Aam Aadmi Party government would also be discussed prominently,'' he added. Cheema said the party would also focus on discussing 'Panthic' issues, particularly the attempts being made to weaken Sikh religious institutions. ''We will expose those who are party to this conspiracy and appeal to the entire Panth to support the SAD, which has always stood as a bulwark for Sikh pride and prestige,'' he added.

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