M A I N   N E W S

SAD overhauls image, puts youth in forefront
Naveen S. Garewal
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, February 16
In the first major attempt to overhaul its image of being a party ruled by the ‘old and the infirm’, the Shiromani Akali Dal today formally put its youth force in the forefront of its election campaign, launched to secure a decisive victory over the Congress in Punjab during the forthcoming parliamentary elections. A reorganised youth wing of the party, led by Youth Akali Dal patron and Rajya Sabha member, Sukhbir Singh Badal, vowed to put up its best fight to end what it termed as “repression by the Congress”.

The “Chetna Rally” held at Bhanor village, 15 km from here on the Ferozepur Road, turned out to be one of the biggest since the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) celebrated 75 years of its existence at Moga in 1996. Several top state and national politicians took the opportunity at political bashing of the Congress and tried to infuse vigour into the youth wing of the party by asking its workers to safeguard democracy and to stand guard to the religious and cultural values of Punjab.

The mammoth rally was addressed by Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Shahnawaz Hussain and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, National Conference President, Omar Abdullah, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Gurcharan Singh Tohra, SAD President Parkash Singh Badal, his son, Sukhbir Badal, and several others. Mr Naresh Gujral, son of former Prime Minister, I.K. Gujral and party nominee for the Jalandhar seat, was formally inducted into the Akali Dal.

Practically every leader took a dig at Congress President Sonia Gandhi and eulogised the efforts of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to usher in an era of peace in the sub-continent. Union Textile Minister Shahnawaz Hussain said Congress was unwilling to see the ‘feel good factor’ that was sweeping the country. He took a dig at Mrs. Gandhi by saying “our national heroes did not sacrifice their lives to push out the British Queen so that an Italian queen could take over”.

Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who was at his wittiest best said “Giving the reign of the nation to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi would be like putting a person who does not know driving into the driving seat. The result will be obvious, there will be no driver, no vehicle and no seat left”. Mr Rajnath Singh echoed similar sentiments by saying: “Mrs Sonia Gandhi is the daughter-in-law of the country and we respect and accept her in that capacity, But anyone who is not a natural born citizen of the country trying to sit in the seat of the Prime Minister will never be tolerated”

Even though, Mr Abdullah preferred not to indulge in plain speak, but he indirectly endorsed the peace initiative of Mr Vajpayee and hoped that it would silence the guns in Jammu and Kashmir and restore normalcy as achieved in Punjab after a decade of militancy.

Mr Sukhbir Badal presented a memorandum to the SAD President in which he put forth the needs of the youth from the state’s leadership. He appealed to Mr Badal to create more jobs for Punjab youth when voted to power. “Punjab should be made an information technology hub of the nation”, he said. Besides he pleaded for interest-free loans for the youth, setting up of educational institutions of international standards and allocation of more funds for sports.

Akali leaders present at the rally included Mr. B.S Bhunder, Bibi Jagir Kaur, R.S. Ajnala, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Gobind Singh Kanjla, Gurdev Badal, Captain Kanwaljit Singh, Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, Manpreet Badal, Sharanjit Singh Dhillon.