Overview

• The Punjab and Haryana High Court granted a four-week halt to the government’s land pooling policy pending a detailed state reply and impact assessments.
• Sukhbir Badal announced the ‘Jameen Bachao – Punjab Bachao Morcha’, featuring daily indefinite marches from Gurdwara Sri Amb Sahib in Mohali to Arvind Kejriwal’s Sheesh Mahal.
• Badal vowed to restore all farmland acquired under the AAP-backed scheme to original owners, invoking the precedent of the 2016 Sutlej Yamuna Link canal restitution.
• He pledged to ban outsiders from purchasing land in Punjab and require new companies to allocate 80% of jobs to Punjabi residents.
• The SAD platform will also push to restart the ‘atta-daal’ and Shagun welfare schemes and increase old-age pensions under its proposed government.