Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
In a bid to rebuild its electoral fortunes in Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which has been going through a challenging phase since losing power in 2017, is mounting an aggressive early campaign to reconnect with voters ahead of the State Assembly election due in 2027.
The party on Saturday (January 24, 2026) announced plans to organise a series of rallies in all Assembly constituencies in the State starting next month, aimed at highlighting its past developmental record and presenting its vision for the State’s future.
The announcement came at a meeting of district presidents and constituency in-charges, chaired by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, where the party outlined its strategy to reconnect with voters ahead of the 2027 polls.
“Successive SAD governments carried out unprecedented development in the State, making it power surplus, connecting major cities with four-lane roads, establishing new thermal plants and airports, and overhauling rural infrastructure,” senior party leader Daljit Singh Cheema said after the meeting.
He blamed both the previous Congress government and the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for their “failure to create new infrastructure” in the State, due to which he said, “Punjab has suffered immensely”.
“We are committed to restarting a new era of development and infrastructure creation to take Punjab forward,” he added.
Mr. Cheema said the party would launch a people’s movement against what it termed “anti-Punjab policies and decisions” of the AAP government. “We would appeal to Punjabis to support their regional party SAD and pledge to address concerns over law and order, communal harmony, and unemployment. We assure Punjabis that we will take the State out of the present lawlessness, ensure peace and communal harmony, and bring back investment into Punjab to create jobs for our youth,” he said.
It was decided in the meeting that by February 10, the party’s organisational structure, including booth-level committees and various wings such as the Youth Akali Dal, Istri Akali Dal, and wings for Scheduled Castes, Backward Castes, and trade representatives, would be completed.
Published – January 24, 2026 09:23 pm IST
