Baba Bakala (Punjab), Aug 9 (IANS) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Badal on Saturday assured Punjabis that once they form a SAD government in Punjab it would return all land acquired by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to farmers on the same pattern in which it had returned land acquired for the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal to the farmers in 2016.

Addressing a political conference on the occasion of Rakhar Punya here, Badal said: “We are very clear. We can sacrifice our life but will not allow even once inch of land to be forcibly acquired from the farmers. It is for this reason that we are launching the ‘Jameen Bachao – Punjab Bachao Morcha’ from September 1 which will witness an indefinite march every day from Gurdwara Sri Amb Sahib in Mohali to the nearby new ‘Sheesh Mahal’ where Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal has taken up residence.”

Badal said unlike the previous SAD governments which had always given adequate compensation for land acquisition for important projects, Kejriwal was intent on grabbing fertile farm land for peanuts and handing it over to builders from Delhi as part of a Rs 30,000 crore under hand deal.

He said farmers across 65,000 acres which is being acquired have already been facing problems with all registry and even change of land use processes being stopped.

Asserting that the Akali Dal always stood for safeguarding the rights of Punjabis, Badal said: “Once we form the government in 2027 we will ban outsiders from purchasing land in Punjab. We will also ensure that government jobs are given to Punjabis only and that all new companies recruit as much as 80 per cent Punjabi employees.”

He also announced that the ‘atta-daal’ and Shagun schemes would be restarted and that old-age pension would be hiked. Asserting that it was a defamation campaign which had resulted in the Akali Dal loss in 2017, Badal said AAP and the Congress were together to defame the party.

“Now conclusive proof has emerged that AAP was behind the sacrilege incident in Malerkotla in 2016 with the conviction of its legislator in 2024. “If a thorough probe is launched into other cases of sacrilege it will be revealed that AAP was behind them also,” Badal added.

–IANS

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