Ludhiana, March 14 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said every party has the right to make its own decisions about alliances, in response to the BJP's announcement to contest the 2027 Punjab election alone.
He also said that the SAD had contested the 2024 parliamentary elections alone.
"For us, the interests of Punjab and Punjabis are paramount, and above all else," he said.
Badal said that the SAD would fight for the rights of Punjab and Punjabis, and he was confident that his party would secure a landslide victory in the 2027 election.
Badal's remarks came hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the BJP would contest the 2027 assembly elections alone.
Badal claimed that the SAD was different from Delhi-based parties, which only come to power.
"Earlier, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was offered many incentives, but he chose to remain in jail for 16 years rather than compromise the rights of the state. I will also continue to fight for the rights of Punjab," he said.
"I have full faith in the wisdom of the Punjabis, who realize that they have been repeatedly betrayed by Delhi-based parties. I am confident that they will hand 100 seats to the SAD in the upcoming assembly elections," he said.
Earlier, at a gathering, Badal asked, "Can Amit Shah (Home Minister) or Modi ji have the same concern for you as the Badal family or the SAD?"
Badal said that the SAD has always stood with the Punjabis, as in the case of the floods last year, when, he alleged, the AAP government, as well as the Centre, abandoned the Punjabis.
"Many leaders left the party, thinking it was finished. Now, the same leaders are coming back and virtually knocking on my doors to seek readmission. But my question to them is, why did you leave? People who change with the wind cannot be trusted," he said, addressing the gathering.
Badal claimed that the next SAD government would eradicate gangsters and the drug mafia from the state. "We will bring in legislation to deny bail to gangsters and drug lords and seize their complete properties," he said.
He added, "I will not allow even a drop of industrial or sewage effluent to enter the Sutlej and Beas rivers. Those who violate this will be dealt with sternly. This is absolutely essential to tackle the scourge of cancer in the Malwa belt."
Badal said that his party would not allow water to flow into the Rajasthan canal once it comes to power.
He said that the Congress was responsible for handing over Punjab's water to Rajasthan, and that he was committed to correcting this "historic injustice."