‘AAP won’t be able to open its account’

Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who has proved his mettle by winning a series of elections, including the gurdwara management committee polls in Delhi, during the past six years, foresees his party winning all four seats in the Delhi Vidhan Sabha polls tomorrow. A few hours before the poll campaign came to a formal end, Sukhbir took out time to reply to the queries posed by DailyPost Principal Correspondent Rajay Deep

As your partymen call you the master of micro-management in poll campaigns, how much confident are you about the party’s performance in Delhi polls?

I, on the basis of reports collected from the field, can firmly claim that all four SAD candidates will win the Assembly polls. Notably, it will not be the victory of only four of the SAD candidates but the wave suggests that BJP-SAD alliance in Delhi is all set to form the government with a clear majority.

In the wake of your recent experience in Punjab, how do you evaluate the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi?

In 2012, Punjab witnessed a newly popped up political outfit People’s Party of Punjab (PPP), enjoying the hype created by media, contested the Vidhan Sabha polls with much enthusiasm. However, the referendum of voters made them all clear that on the basis of just media hype, one can’t win the polls and I consider the AAP in Delhi standing at the same place now. These people would also not be able to open the account as did the PPP in Punjab.

After winning seats in Delhi Vidhan Sabha (as you expect), will the SAD (B) put its claim on the Delhi parliamentary seats also?

No. It is not our strategy. We will contest the parliamentary polls only in Punjab. But at the same time, I must tell you that following a well chalked out plan of expansion, soon the SAD (B), that already has an MLA in Haryana, would be seen winning the Assembly seats in UP, MP and other states.

Do you think the party campaigners you had called from Punjab performed their assignments in letter and spirit?

Yes, of course. Our party is known for the discipline. Whatever assignment is marked to any leader or the worker, he/she goes all out to ensure the delivery. On the basis of this, I am hundred per cent satisfied with whatever they could do during the past few days.

Punjab Congress leadership was also here to scuttle the chances of all four SAD candidates moving towards victory. What is your take on it?

It all hardly matters to us as the Punjab Congress leaders, who are deeply involved in infighting, have been exposed on all fronts. When they could not stop us from winning in Punjab, they would be seen biting the dust on December 8 in Delhi too.

Did Punjab’s biggest sports extravaganza “World Kabaddi Cup” hit your poll campaign here?

This is not true. We have separate teams to handle different tasks. If a number of leaders were busy in campaigning here, there was a large number other dignitaries who ensured the amazing start of the tournament. And now, they would all be back to Punjab and handle their responsibilities there.

Fielding a Hindu face in Delhi polls, what does the SAD (B), once known as a Panthic party, want to establish?

It is the replication of the model we adopted in Punjab. Fielding Hindu faces on the SAD ticket, we have found that it not only makes the party go secular but also helps the nation in promoting communal harmony. Having undertaken an exceptional blend of different responsibilities, one can find the SAD (B) to be the most secular party of India now.

Don’t you feel the entire BJP-SAD campaign in Delhi Assembly polls was more of projecting Narendra Modi as the PM candidate?

Modi Sahib is our PM candidate and we have to project him at all platforms, but it does not mean that the campaign in Delhi or the other four states was all to project him. He came here and addressed a number of rallies, which gave a major boost to the alliance’s prospects to win the Assembly polls. So, there is no such feeling among the alliance cadre. And interestingly, the party’s victory in these five states is sure to pave the way for the BJP-SAD to have its government at the Centre, of which Modi will be the Prime Minister.