The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal on Monday thanked the people of Punjab for giving a thumping response to ‘Sadhbhawna Rally’ and vowing to reject extremist elements who wanted to take Punjab back to the era of turmoil. “The gathering in the rally gave clear signals that people of the State wanted peace and development,” said SAD MPs Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Balwinder Singh Bhundur, Prem Singh Chandumajra and Naresh Gujral, in a joint statement.
They said that the people of Punjab had decisively rejected those who represented radical ideology as the Punjab bandh called given by some radical groups to halt ‘Sadbhawna Rally’ besides creating disturbance in the state failed to evoke any response.
“Shops, commercial establishments and educational institutions remained open all around the state and vehicle traffic was also normal despite the heavy rush of vehicles towards ‘Sadbhawna Rally’ at Bathinda,” they said. They said that Punjab was under turmoil for more than two decades and it took a decade for the state to come out of its impact. “Anti-Punjab Congress party in collaboration with radicals like Simranjeet Maan had once again hatched conspiracies to divide the people living like brothers in the state. It is the SAD-BJP alliance that restored peace and harmony in the state besides making stupendous efforts to take Punjab to the new heights of glory,” they said.
SAD leaders said that the purpose of organizing ‘Sadhbhawna Rallies’ was to invite all peace and development loving Punjabis on one platform to curb all practices being followed by Congress and its allies to pull state back into black era. “November 23, 2015, would be remembered in the history as a day when Punjabis opted the path of prosperity and development rejecting all the anti-Punjab parties and people,” they said.