Chandigarh, Oct 18 Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday announced that he will visit Punjab on October 20 and meet the family members of those who recently lost their lives for raising their voices against the drug menace in Mansa, Sangrur, and Gurdaspur.
Shah also alleged that the AAP government in Punjab has spared no effort in “pushing the state into the abyss of drugs”.
It will be Shah’s second visit to poll-bound Punjab in 20 days. He visited Jalandhar on September 30 and addressed a rally marking the culmination of the BJP’s ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’.
In a post in Hindi on X, Shah said, “The AAP government has spared no effort in pushing Punjab into the abyss of drugs, as a result of which numerous families have had to lose their children.”
The Union home minister said he will meet the family members of those individuals who recently lost their lives for raising their voices against the drug peddlers “thriving under the patronage of the AAP government”, in Mansa, Sangrur, and Gurdaspur on Tuesday.
“The grief these families have endured cannot be expressed in words. Attempts to suppress the voices rising against this dark drug trade will never succeed, and the people of the state will deliver a resounding response to it,” he said.
“The Government of India will handpick drug peddlers and send them behind bars, and will continue its efforts until the entire country, including Punjab, is freed from this drug trade,” Shah added.
Shah will visit Mansa and Sangrur to meet the families of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota and Gulzar Singh, respectively, BJP sources said. Both Jhota and Gulzar Singh died in incidents linked to the state’s drug issue.
The Union home minister will also visit Gurdaspur to meet the family of a 40-year-old man who was killed on October 16. Villagers claimed that the man was targeted for opposing drug peddling in his area but police said the murder was the fallout of a scuffle between two groups over a mobile phone.
Earlier in the day, BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu announced Shah’s visit in a post on X but did not share details of his itinerary.
“Punjab welcomes Hon’ble Union Home Minister Shri @AmitShah Ji on his visit to Punjab on 20th October,” he said.
At a time when Punjab is battling the grave menace of drugs, the state needs decisive action, strong leadership and a firm resolve to secure its youth and future, the former Union minister said.
He alleged that the AAP government had lost its mandate before completing its term and appealed to Punjabis to support Shah and the BJP’s mission to make Punjab drug-free.
“Let us unite to save Punjab’s youth and reclaim Punjab’s future,” Bittu further said.
On October 16, Shah had said the Centre would seek the Punjab government’s response over two incidents in the state — the death of Gulzar Singh who allegedly consumed poison under pressure in Dirba in Sangrur district and the killing of Jhota in Mansa.
Jhota was shot dead on October 13 allegedly by a medical store owner in a busy market in Mansa. Ashwani Kumar, the store owner who allegedly fired at Jhota when he was questioned over the sale of addictive drugs to an elderly man, was subsequently arrested.
Gulzar Singh, a resident of Dirba in Sangrur district, died by suicide on September 7. His family alleged that he consumed poison after being harassed and subjected to casteist slurs for questioning Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema about the supply of drugs in his locality.
Political parties, including the BJP, have increasingly highlighted the drug issue in Punjab, where Assembly elections are due early next year.
During his visit to Jalandhar on September 30, Shah had accused the AAP government of allowing the trade in ‘chitta’ (synthetic drugs) to flourish openly and vowed that the BJP would make Punjab drug-free by December 2029 if voted to power in the 2027 Assembly elections.
Shah had also met some families affected by the drug menace during his Jalandhar visit.
(PTI News)
