De-register parties failing to implement manifesto: Harsimrat to EC

While the sops are raining through manifestos of political parties ahead of the elections, Union food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal feels that the registration of political parties, which fail to fulfil their promises, should be cancelled.

Campaigning in Mansa on Wednesday, Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, “The election commission should de-register the political parties, which fail to deliver, what they promise in their manifesto. The political parties which often befool people with their tall promises should face the heat and the EC should monitor such manifestos designed by the parties.”

Her statement has come at a time when SAD manifesto promising vast tracks of land in US and Canada to resettle Punjabis, has been criticised by the Aam Aadmi Party on social media.

She also took on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for ‘disrespecting’ the orders of election commission. “EC had asked Kejriwal not to persuade voters to accept money before voting. Now Kejriwal seems to be threatening the autonomy of a constitutional body and the commission must take cognizance of such arrogance.”

In the last one week, Harsimrat Kaur Badal has been campaigning in Mansa and Bathinda districts. It seems that Harsimrat, who won the 2014 Lok Sabha election with a margin of around 19000 votes, has been campaigning in her constituency to consolidate her vote bank. While she has doled out grants worth crores in the last one year in her constituency, she is still leading a rigorous campaign in villages in Mansa and Bathinda districts.

Attempting to strike a chord with the senior citizens in the villages of Budhlada assembly seat, Harsimrat asked the audience to recall that some of the older people might have accompanied chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in the prison.

“Whether you belong to Mansa, Bathinda or any corner of Punjab, there must be a few senior people sitting here who would have spent time with Badal sahib in the prison during his struggle against the Congress government.”

While announcing the details of SAD manifesto, Harsimrat failed to evoke a cheering response from the crowd and even said the crowd didn’t seem to like the promises made by her party.  

In an attempt to pacify the farmers over sale of spurious pesticide, Harsimrat said a misleading campaign was launched by the opposition parties about the sale of spurious pesticide, which failed to prevent the whitefly attack.

“How come the whitefly attack on the crop was reported from other states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and others, if Punjab chief minister had sold such pesticide in the state?” she asked.

She alleged that AAP was behind the sacrilege incidents in the state. “The Opposition had accused us of orchestrating the sacrilege incident to divert the anger of farmers facing the loss of cotton crop. Had it been so, why such heinous incidents never happened in the previous tenure of SAD-BJP government.”