Hoshiarpur, Sep 24 Senior BJP leader and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday accused the AAP government of failing to curb the drug menace in Punjab while addressing a gathering during ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’ in Hoshiarpur’s Garshankar city.
Thakur also said the BJP’s anti-drug march was aimed at creating awareness about the harmful effects of drugs and not an election campaign.
“We have not come here to talk about elections. Elections will continue to take place, but eliminating drugs from Punjab is the most important priority,” he said.
Punjab is due for legislative elections early next year.
Thakur said Punjab, which produces food grains for the entire country, was under a heavy debt burden and claimed that young people were dying due to drug abuse in cities and towns across the state.
He claimed that around 30 drug-related police cases were being registered every day in Punjab and that drug abuse was also contributing to a rise in HIV cases in the state.
He said the BJP had launched four Nasha Mukt Yatras across Punjab for 13 days to create awareness among people about the harmful effects of drugs.
The former Himachal Pradesh chief minister alleged that Pakistan was trying to harm India, particularly Punjab, by using drugs as a weapon, as it did not have the courage to fight India directly.
Earlier in the day, Punjab BJP leaders, accompanied by Thakur, paid obeisance at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib in Sri Anandpur Sahib and offered prayers before commencing the yatra.
They later visited the Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Nangal before proceeding to Garhshankar.
Former Union minister Som Prakash said the situation in Punjab had deteriorated and claimed that thousands of young people had lost their lives due to drug abuse.
BJP MLA Ashwani Kumar Sharma accused the AAP government of failing to curb the drug menace and alleged that its “wrong policies” were damaging the future of Punjab’s youth.
(PTI News)
