Senior SAD leader and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Jattvibeday struck an emotional note while addressing the ‘Punjab Bachao’ rally in Guruharsahai, which SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was originally scheduled to attend.Harsimrat alleged that conspiracies had been continuously hatched against the SAD since 2015 and claimed these were reflected in two recent attempts on Sukhbir Badal’s life. She said she had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into both incidents, alleging the involvement of certain politicians and police officers.During her address, the Bathinda MP displayed a post-surgery photograph of Sukhbir’s injured arm and the one-and-a-half-foot-long ‘kirch’ (dagger) allegedly used in the attack.“More than 150 stitches have been placed to close the wound from both sides and also from the inside. This is because the dagger, which had a sharpened tip, went through the flesh,” she said.Terming the incident at Nanded Sahib and the December 4, 2024, attack at Sri Darbar Sahib as part of a “deep-rooted conspiracy” to eliminate Sukhbir Badal and weaken the SAD, Harsimrat said this was why she had sought an NIA probe.She alleged that the accused in the Sri Darbar Sahib attack was facilitated by a Superintendent of Police and secured bail within three months. Referring to the Nanded incident, she claimed that the assailant, disguised as a Nihang Singh, initially appeared to escort Sukhbir down the stairs of Gurdwara Mata Sahib Devan before allegedly attacking him.“Such a cowardly act cannot be done by a true Sikh in a place of worship and the entire episode needs to be probed by the NIA to get to the bottom of the attacks as well as the persons who are sponsoring them,” she said.She said that such ‘Guru Dokhi’ and anti-national elements wanted to destroy the hard-won peace of Punjab, but that these divisive acts would never cow down the SAD and that Sukhbir would rebound even stronger than before.Harsimrat said Sukhbir Badal was in “chardikala” after being discharged from hospital and that the sight of a ‘baaj’ circling his hospital window had strengthened his resolve to serve the Panth.“Our strength, our pillar, our everything is our Guru. So now, I am challenging these divisive forces — the more you try to attack us and finish us, the stronger we will emerge,” she said.Amid slogans in support of the SAD president, Harsimrat appealed to Punjabis to ensure that Punjab’s resources were used for the welfare of its people. She also urged people to seek government jobs for Punjabis and pledged to end what she described as “gangster rule” under the AAP government. She further called for safeguarding Punjab’s rights over its waters and Chandigarh.She also cautioned people against those who, she alleged, were using religion to spread hatred and divisions. Referring to former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, she said peace and communal harmony should remain the cornerstone of state policy. She also urged the people to support their own regional party while asserting that they had experienced betrayal at the hands of both those who took holy oaths on the Gutka Sahib (Congress) as well as the votaries of ‘badlav’ (AAP).Party Halka in-charge and senior leader Vardev Singh Mann related how Rs 75 crore earmarked for a new sewerage system by the erstwhile SAD government had not been released by the subsequent Congress dispensation making the town a ‘living hell.’ While calling for a new sewerage system, Mann also demanded the ownership rights of farmers tilling land along the Sutlej River, which had been given to them by former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, but later taken back, should be restored. He also called for establishing a girls’ college and hospital in the constituency once the SAD was voted to power.Senior leaders Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Sikandar Singh Maluka, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, Nardev Singh Mann, Joginder Singh Jindu, Sukhpal Nannu, Raj Kumar Dibbipura, Harpreet Singh Hero and SOI president Ranbir Singh Dhillon also addressed the gathering.