Karnal,
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will contest all 90 Assembly seats in the state next year. It will put up candidates against the BJP, its NDA partner, and the INLD, its previous ally in the state.

This was stated by senior SAD leader Bibi Jagir Kaur here on Friday. She said that the SAD had started preparations for Assembly elections.

To mobilise the cadre in Haryana, the former SGPC chief held a workers’ meeting at a gurdwara in Taraori. She took feedback from workers and told them to be ready for Assembly elections on all seats.

The SAD had contested the Assembly elections in 2014 in alliance with the INLD. Party sources said that 35 Assembly seats had a sizeable Sikh population.

Asked about contesting elections against the BJP, its NDA partner, Jagir Kaur, observer for Karnal district, said the SAD did not have enmity with any party and all were free to contest the elections on the basis of their policies.

“We will not have any alliance with anyone and will go it alone in the Assembly elections on all seats in Haryana. We will put up candidates against the BJP and INLD,” she said. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal had assigned duties to senior leaders of the party for Haryana, she pointed out.

She batted for active participation of women in politics, saying that women with political maturity should come forward. The SAD would give ticket to women on the pattern of Punjab, she said.

Talking about the SYL canal issue, she said that it had been passed on by the Congress. The SAD would sort out the issue when voted to power in both Haryana and Punjab, she claimed.

She criticised Capt Amarinder Singh government in Punjab, accusing it of not fulfilling promises. It had been working on abolishing public welfare schemes started by the SAD government, she said.