Sukhbir calls on youth to back proven leadership for progress

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today urged the youth to select a leader with a proven track record who could take them and the state forward.

Addressing a youth conclave, titled “Students with Sukhbir”, organised by the Students Organization of India (SOI) president Ranbir Singh Rana, along with Ludhiana West party candidate Parupkar Singh Ghumman, the SAD president said, “The state cannot progress without a visionary leader. You can get results only if you elect the right person. The progress made in road and air connectivity as well as in thermal plants and education and health sectors can be compared with the state of affairs in the AAP administration and you will realise why good leadership is important.”

Answering a question on drug trafficking in the state and the campaign initiated by the AAP government, Badal said, “Rahul Gandhi started the process of defaming Punjab by asserting that a majority of the youth in the state were drug addicts.” He said the AAP government was not at all serious about wiping out drugs from the state. Asserting that a holistic programme, including promoting sports and ensuring job opportunities, was needed to tackle the menace, Badal said, “I’m committed to eradicating the menace once and for all.”

In a reply to another question, Badal said he was committed to encouraging the culture of startups. “In our previous tenure we started Punjab Invest. Now we will focus on making the

youth entrepreneurs”.

Badal also said the momentum achieved in encouraging sports like kabaddi and hockey during the SAD’s regime had been lost during the tenures of the Congress and AAP. “We will revive this. I promise there will be more jobs for sportspersons once the SAD comes to power.”

Badal urged the youth to vote for Parupkar Ghumman in the West bypoll as he was a professional with a socialist and secular thought process.

Ludhiana