Shiromani Akali Dal banks on traditional vote

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, February 18

Having started campaign much earlier than other parties, the SAD leadership is claiming it will get “comfortable majority” in the Assembly polls.

“We have got an encouraging response all over the state,” says party spokesperson Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema. “The youth of the state have especially stood with us. We are hoping this will translate into victory.”

In the multi-party contest this time, the SAD is hoping that retaining its cadre and traditional vote would help candidates win on many seats. “The victory margin may not be much on several seats and the party who retains its cadre and traditional vote will excel. Further. The young voters have campaigned enthusiastically for us.

The surveys are not in favour of the Akalis as the top or even the second best party, but the SAD terms them false propaganda. “These are all paid surveys,” party president Sukhbir Singh Badal insists in his election campaign.

Notably, the party has changed its poll slogan this election. In the 2017 polls, it sought votes claiming “Raj nahi sewa”. But the slogan in this election is “Gal raj di nahi, Punjab di hai.”

“We knew the Congress campaign was a disaster from the start and the AAP claims were a social media bubble and a repeat of the 2017 false bravado. The AAP’s anti-Punjab and anti-farmer stance in the Supreme Court has killed them. We kept our ears to the ground, our shoulders on the wheel and worked hard at the grassroots. We have peaked at the right time. We are the only party smiling at the end of the campaign. We are poised for a triumphant return,” says Parkash Singh Badal, party patron.