AAP won't cross single digit in Punjab polls, predicts Sukhbir

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may have won a majority in Punjab if the assembly elections were held a year ago but is unlikely to get seats in double digit in the polls next year, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said.
"With every visit of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to Punjab, AAP loses more seats as people have seen through him. Even if the elections were held in Delhi today, the AAP will not get majority there also," Badal claimed.
"Punjabis like to try new things now they have seen AAP and they have seen that Kejriwal promises something, does something else. They have discarded him," Badal said while responding to a question on AAP at Agenda Aaj Tak.

A confident Badal said the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will complete its "hat-trick" in Punjab as he ruled out AAP from the race while indicating that the contest was between his party and Congress.
"If assembly elections were held a year ago, AAP might have won 70 seats, but now the scenario has totally changed (and) as of now, the party will not get more than nine seats, whereas Congress may get 35-40 seats and we will get 70 seats," Badal said.
Replying to questions on the issue of drug menace in Punjab, Badal said it was a "propaganda" to defame the youth of the state.

"All this started when (Congress Vice President) Rahul Gandhi came to Punjab and read from a paper saying 70 per cent of youth in the state are drug addicts. Whereas the reality was that 70 per cent of drug addicts were youth, his problem is he can only read from what is given to him written on a paper," the SAD president said.

He further said it has been established that with latest police recruitment that very negligible percentage youth are taking drugs.
"Recently our government conducted recruitment for the state police and for which more than four lakh youngsters applied. We conducted tests and only 1.26 per cent were found taking drugs. And that is half the national average. This result should finally put to rest the startling figures of drug abuse in Punjab that have been making rounds," Badal said.

He said the "propaganda" is "defaming the youth" in Punjab and is against the state and should be stopped.
However, he said the Border Security Force, which guards the border Punjab shares with Pakistan, needs to be more vigilant to check the flow of drugs from across the state.