'Polls will be fought between pro and anti-Punjab forces'

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the 2017 Assembly election in the state will be a "fight between pro and anti-Punjab forces".
Addressing a gathering here on the occasion of 'Rakhar Punia', he said the election would be between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the "enemies of the state such as the AAP and the Congress".
Badal claimed if the ruling "pro-people" SAD-BJP alliance was voted to power again, then Punjab's development would get a major boost. "But, god forbid, if anti-Punjab forces such as the Congress and the AAP get a chance, then the situation will be worse," he warned the people, adding that this time around, they would have to choose between "the foes and the friends" of the state.

Reminding the people of the "notorious" past of the Congress, the Chief Minister accused the party of "irrelevantly meddling" in the social, political, economic and religious affairs of the state.
He alleged that successive Congress governments at the Centre had "deliberately denied" the state of Punjabi-speaking areas, its capital Chandigarh and its legitimate share in river waters.
Training his guns on the AAP, he said the party was nothing but a "band of gossip-mongers" which was "good for nothing".
He claimed that the AAP leadership was "promising moon" to everyone but in reality, they have proved that they cannot deliver anything.

The veteran SAD leader urged the people not to get swayed by the "malicious propaganda" of those who were "anti-Punjab" from the core of their hearts.