Chandigarh, March 29 (IANS): Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Badal on Friday said the winds of change had started in Punjab.

The SAD President received a warm welcome during the Punjab Bachao Yatra in Rampura Phul and Maur constituencies.

He was accompanied by Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, besides Sikander Singh Maluka and Harinder Singh Mehraj in Maur and Rampura Phul, respectively. Badal said "now the contest has become one of Punjab di fauj -- the SAD against the Delhi-based parties".

Urging the people to stay steadfast in their resolve to support their own regional party, he said "if you do not do this future generations will not forgive you".

Stating that the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had taken Punjab back by decades during the last seven years, the SAD President said "the erstwhile Congress government befooled farmers with false oaths of complete loan waiver".

He said AAP had promised to eradicate drugs within days, but the scourge of drugs had increased manifold during the last two years with hundreds of youth dying of drug overdose.

He also cited how AAP had bankrupted Punjab by taking on a debt of Rs 1 lakh crore in the last two years even as no development or infrastructure creation had taken place in the state.

Asserting that the farmers and the poor had been the hardest hit, Badal said "this government not only failed to implement its promise to ensure minimum support price (MSP) on all crops, but has even failed to release compensation for crop losses".

He said similarly, the poor were being denied social welfare benefits like 'aata-daal' and 'shagun'.

Appealing to the people to give a decisive mandate, Badal said "SAD alone represents your interests and your aspirations. We are committed to safeguarding the interests of Punjab. For us Punjab is first".

He said for Delhi-based parties, power was the most important, due to which they had consistently compromised the interests of the state.