SAD to develop Bathinda as industrial hub after coming to power in Punjab: Sukhbir Badal

Bathinda, Mar 7 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said his party will take Bathinda to the next level of progress by making the city an industrial hub when it forms the government in Punjab after the 2027 state polls.

Addressing a gathering at Goniana Mandi in Bathinda, Badal said the Akali Dal has to its credit established thermal plants in the district, an airport, besides making it an education and medical hub by establishing a central university, AIIMS and the Advanced Cancer Institute.

“After coming to power in 2027, the Akali government will establish an industrial hub in Bathinda that will boost the economy of the region and provide employment to the youth,” Badal said.

He also promised to establish a skill university on 300 acres of land in the district, which will train one lakh youth every year.

“Specialised training will be imparted by renowned companies so that the trainees can be absorbed in the same,” Badal said.

He also claimed that after four years in power, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is again trying to "befool" the people by announcing to set up a medical college in New Chandigarh.

“He (Mann) doesn’t seem to know that it was former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal who established the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in New Chandigarh.

“If one sees Bhagwant Mann's record, the promised medical college in Sangrur has not progressed beyond a foundation stone. The AAP government has failed to establish any medical college in any district of the state as promised,” Badal claimed.

Outlining his vision for Punjab, Badal said the Akali Dal is committed to cleaning up all the rivers in the state.

“We will not let a single drop of polluted effluent be discharged into the Beas and Sutlej. This is necessary to check cancer in the Malwa belt,” he said.

Badal also announced that all farmers bereft of a tubewell connection would be given the same once the SAD forms the government in Punjab.

“We will also install underground pipes for efficient irrigation, besides stopping water flow into the Rajasthan canal and diverting the same to the fields of our farmers,” Badal said. PTI CHS ARI