Will turn villages into mini Chandigarh: SAD

Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, April 24

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal today claimed mass desertion by influential Congress leaders and workers who were keen on joining the SAD would continue in the next few days. He said this while inducting senior Congress leader Des Raj Kamboj Jandwalia and his supporters to the party at Lakhewali Dhab.

Sukhbir was accompanied by another Congress man-turned-Akali Jagmeet Singh Brar and former BJP minister Surjit Jiani among others. Addressing a series of public gatherings, Badal ridiculed the state government for tardy procurement of wheat. “I pursue all my dreams relentlessly and one of my dreams is to make every village of Punjab look like a mini-Chandigarh,” he said.

He said he had already prepared a blueprint for the development of projects at macro and micro levels for both urban and rural areas of the state. “To begin with, we will provide water supply, sewerage, streetlights and roads on a par with the best cities in the country to all 12,500 villages of the state,” he said.

Sukhbir said once elected as MP, he will focus on revolutionary programmes aimed at the development of border areas.

He added that there was no dearth of funds if the government really wanted to develop the state.

Ghubaya reaches out

In an endeavour to placate Congress leaders who were upset with his entry into the party from SAD and subsequent allocation of ticket for the LS polls, Sher Singh Ghubaya on Wednesday met Cabinet Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi to solicit his support. After the meeting, Sodhi said as a dedicated party soldier, he would extend all possible support to Ghubaya.