Chandigarh, Feb 18 (IANS) Ahead of polling for the Assembly elections, five-time Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch Parkash Singh Badal on Friday said the party is poised for a triumphant return.
"Great finish by the SAD-BSP," said the 94-year-old Badal, who is in fray from Lambi and aiming for the sixth consecutive win.
"The results will surprise many armchair analysts. We knew that the Congress campaign was a disaster from the start and AAP claims were a social media bubble and a repeat of 2017 false bravado.
"The AAP's anti-Punjab and anti-farmers stance in the Supreme Court has killed them. We kept our ears to the ground, our shoulder on the wheel and worked hard at 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," Badal added.
After the Model Code of Conduct came into force in the state for the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, enforcement teams have seized valuables worth Rs 23.8 crore in violation of code, besides confiscating unaccounted cash till January 12, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab S. Karuna Raju said on Thursday.
Channi expressed regret while participating in a virtual meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi with Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors/Administrators of states and UTs to review the prevailing Covid situation as well as the ongoing vaccination drive.
Unveiling the first set of plans in his Punjab Model with focus on resurrection of Punjab, Sidhu, in the absence of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his Cabinet colleagues, told the media here: "Punjab Model is people's model, an effort to give a roadmap to return power to people."
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that he "personally" feels that alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab had cost the BJP heavily.
India on Tuesday recorded 1,68,063 new Covid cases, taking the total tally to 8,21,446. Although the fresh infections were 6.4 per cent less than Monday when the country logged 1,79,723, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 8.85 per cent and the daily positivity rate has declined to 10.64 per cent. On the other hand, 4,461 Omicron cases were recorded from 28 states.
Delhi reported a 25 per cent surge in Covid-19 cases after recording 19,166 fresh cases. With this, the infection tally has climbed to 15,68,896. Meanwhile, the city has recorded 17 Covid deaths on the second consecutive day, pushing the death toll to 25,177.
