Amargarh: SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday pitched himself as the most suitable choice for chief minister, saying Punjab needed a leader who could deliver speedy development, new-age agriculture and employment models.Addressing a ‘Punjab Bachao’ rally in Amargarh, Malerkotla district, Badal said Punjabis had to “choose the right chief minister” for the state. He claimed both former chief minister Amarinder Singh and incumbent chief minister Bhagwant Mann had failed the people.“Bhagwant Mann has not only reneged on his promises but is also playing a cruel joke on you by trying to regale you with jokes instead of resolving serious issues like the drug menace and collapse of law and order,” he said.Badal announced that if the SAD formed the govt in 2027, Malerkotla would be made a heritage city and the district would get medical and veterinary colleges.On drugs, Badal promised a new law in the first cabinet meeting of an SAD govt, under which drug traffickers would not be able to secure bail for 10 years and their properties would be seized by the state.He also accused Mann of neglecting the area despite promising to use his “green pen” to accelerate development in villages. Badal alleged that farmers had been misled over MSP for all crops and a promise of Rs 50,000 compensation for crop loss before girdawari.He also alleged that the govt had conducted a “sham exercise” by laying the foundation stone for a proposed medical college in Sangrur.Badal congratulated the Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams for winning gold medals at the Asian Games, attributing their success to astro-turfs created during the erstwhile SAD govt.Senior leaders who addressed the rally included Arvind Khanna, Tejinder Singh Sanghreri, Ranjit Singh Katron, Paramjit Kaur Virk, Beant Kaur Khaira, Gurpreet Singh Rajukhanna and Sarabjit Singh Jhinjher.
