Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on Tuesday accepted the challenge of his cousin and Congress leader Manpreet Badal to contest against him from his home constituency — Jalalabad.
“I welcome his challenge...It would further make the picture clear that SAD-BJP alliance rules the hearts and minds of people owing to massive wave of development centric projects during past nine years,” said Sukhbir while interacting with the mediapersons during first day of his two-day sangat darshan programme.
Sukhbir said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had yet not declared its first list of candidates for the next year’s Assembly elections, “but even if it had done so then also it would not have mattered to SAD-BJP”. He said he was confident that the alliance would be back in the saddle for the third consecutive time riding on the plank of pro-people and welfare centric measures.
Dwelling on the issue of Punjab Bureau of Investigation (PBI), Sukhbir said it had been established to bring further strengthening the investigation process and the personnel to be recruited under it would be given specialised training.
He said the SAD-BJP Government was focusing especially on the development of border areas as it was an article of faith with the Government to provide the necessary amenities to the residents of these areas.