After Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s door-to-door outreach, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has now taken a similar route to reconnect with voters ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on October 6 launched the party’s door-to-door ‘Punjab Bachao’ (Save Punjab) campaign from Doda village in Gidderbaha, seeking public feedback for the party’s election manifesto.
The timing of the campaign is significant. Mann has recently used door-to-door outreach to take the AAP government’s report card directly to people amid criticism over drugs and governance. SAD is now taking its own route, but with a different pitch, asking voters what they want to see in the party’s next election manifesto.
READ | From ‘Bai Sukhbir’ to ‘Vibe Punjab Di’: Akali Dal Takes Gen-Z Outreach Route Ahead of 2027 Punjab Polls Badal said the party wants to prepare a “ janta (public) manifesto” based on people’s suggestions and has argued that election manifestos should be given legal status so that political parties can be held accountable for their promises.
During his visits, villagers raised the drug menace, unemployment and welfare schemes as key concerns. By seeking suggestions rather than simply presenting promises, the party is attempting to frame its manifesto as a document emerging from public feedback. The campaign comes as SAD works to rebuild its organisational connect with voters ahead of a multi-cornered 2027 contest.
Women told Badal that drugs were destroying families and demanded stronger action against the menace, the party said. Badal told them ending drugs would be the top priority of a future SAD government and proposed stringent measures against drug offences and properties linked to drug traffickers.
