Harsimrat Badal denies signalling SAD-BJP alliance for Punjab polls

Shiromani Akali Dal's lone Lok Sabha MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal is leading a women-focused anti-drug campaign in Punjab named the Mawan Dhiyan Insaaf Yatra, holding at least three meetings every day across the state with Assembly elections just over four months away.

Campaign and Criticisms

The four-time Bathinda MP stated that her programme connects directly with women affected by the drug menace who are scared to send their children to schools and colleges, dismissing the ruling AAP government's Mawan Dhiyan Satkar financial aid scheme of Rs 60,000 over five years as mere symbolism launched six months before the polls. She rejected Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's claims blaming the previous SAD-BJP government's 2007 to 2017 tenure for the drug issue, arguing that heroin is sold openly like toffees today and pointing to a nexus between drug suppliers and policemen. Badal also defended her NGO Nanhi Chhan, which she started decades ago before entering active politics and which has empowered over 14,000 women, while criticizing CM Mann for not bringing a single project to the state and calling him a Guru Dokhi.

New Yatra and Politics

Badal has launched a new campaign called Mawan Dhiyan Di Fauj to identify drug traffickers and their godfathers, distributing forms in every village for women to record acts of drug trafficking with names of peddlers and patrons. These forms will go to a special anti-drug task force headed by a woman DGP for speedy action when the SAD government comes to power. Addressing rumours about her entering state politics or being projected as the CM face, she called them rival propaganda and noted she has already covered 14 Assembly constituencies through her yatra. She clarified that her recent remarks did not signal any alliance between the SAD and the BJP for the upcoming elections, explaining that her statement about development under a future SAD government was misinterpreted from a reply about an educational institution in Longowal. Expressing confidence in the 2027 polls by pointing to Congress winning in 2017 after ten years out of power, she stated that people no longer want Delhi to govern them.

Context

Political parties in Punjab frequently focus their campaigns on the state's deep-rooted drug problem ahead of elections, as the issue remains a major concern for voters and families. Regional parties like the Shiromani Akali Dal often position themselves as local protectors against outside political control from national parties based in Delhi.