LUDHIANA: While making promises to all sections of the society, Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal Sunday said that all Class 11 and 12 students would be given laptops with Internet data-cards if the party was voted back to power in the Jan 30 elections.
The assurance was made in the party manifesto released by Akali Dal president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in the presence of former union minister and MP S.S. Dhindsa.
Akali Dal patron-in-chief and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal described the party's manifesto as a "game-changer".
"This is a remarkable day for Punjab and the party can take pride in setting concrete and daring but attainable goals. I am also glad that our success in implementing the previous manifesto commitments has inspired the policy makers to think big and come up with out-of-the box solutions," Badal said in a statement.
The opposition Congress immediately dismissed the Akali Dal manifesto as a "farce" saying that "Akalis talking of zero tolerance to corruption was the biggest joke of election-2012".
Punjab Congresss president and former chief minister Amarinder Singh said that the manifesto showed the "ideological bankruptcy" of the Akalis and pointed out that most of the things were that the Akali Dal had promised in the 2007 elections also.
"The Akalis' promise of zero tolerance to corruption in their manifesto sounds like devil quoting scriptures," Amarinder said in a statement here.
Among other things, the manifesto promises to make Punjab a power surplus state by 2013, five marla plots for landless poor in villages, Lokpal on the lines of Jan Lokpal bill and free power for tubewells and river water for irrigation to farmers.