CHANDIGARH: It’s official, SAD's husband-wife duo will be contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife, Union minister for food processing, Harsimrat Kaur Badal will be contesting for the Lower house seats.
A sitting Member of Parliament from Bathinda Lok 1sabha seat, Harsimrat Kaur Badal has been re-nominated by her party from the same seat she won in 2009 and 2014. Harsimrat will take on Amarinder Raja Warning of Congress, Prof Baljinder Kaur of AAP and Sukhpal Singh Khaira of Punjabi Ekta Party.
Her husband and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal will contest from Ferozepur parliamentary constituency. He is presently MLA from Jalalabad assembly seat which comes under the Ferozepur Lok sabha constituency.
Sukbhir Singh will take on Sher Singh Ghubaya of Congress who had recently left Akali Dal and joined Congress. He had last contested Lok Sabha polls in 1999 from the Faridkot seat and was minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government.
SAD patron and five time former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday annoucing the candidature of his son and daughter-in-law said, "the party has decided that Sukhbir will fight elections from Ferozepur and Harsimrat from Bathinda."
Hitting out at Congress President Rahul Gandhi and praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Badal said,"In these elections the biggest issue is that which person can be prime minister and take the country forward. Rahul has no experience to lead the country, never served as CM or minister, while Modi is man of masses as he has been four time chief minister and then he became the prime minister and the decisions he took as PM, Congress could not do it during it’s regime in last fifty years."
Praising Modi for the recent air strikes and earlier surgical strikes Badal said,"it is due to his experience and leadership, the country has been able to control terror activities and both operations (strikes) were successful with no loss of lives of soldiers or civilians in Pakistan. Due to the diplomatic strategy of Modi, now all countries in the world are with India and Pakistan has been isolated."
Badal also said that Rahul Gandhi is inexperienced he has not served in any administrative position nor as minister or CM. "If one has to take driving licence one need to give test then gets learner licence and afterward permanent licence and you should know how to drive. For becoming PM, you need lots of experience,’’ he said.
He then hit out at Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh saying that he had promised jobs in every family, will wipe out drugs in four weeks once he came to power and debt waiver for farmers but nothing has happened on ground.
"The Congress government while in centre attacked Akal Takht and were responsible for 1984 sikh riots. Modi gave us Kartarpur Corridor and also culprits of 1984 riots were convicted and were send behind bars," he said.