Chandigarh, Sep 25 Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Friday lashed out at the AAP government in Punjab over the drug issue and said once the “double-engine” government is formed in the state after the assembly polls, decisive steps will be taken with a concrete roadmap to make the state drug-free.
Addressing a gathering during the BJP’s ongoing ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’ in Amritsar, Meghwal alleged that the failure and insensitivity of the AAP government have pushed the future of the state’s youth into the crisis of drug addiction.
He said once the double-engine government is formed, decisive steps will be taken with a concrete roadmap to make Punjab drug-free and secure a safe future for the youth.
Senior BJP leaders including Sunil Jakhar and Vikramjit Singh Sahney were also present.
Meghwal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have taken a firm “sankalp” (pledge), to free the state’s youth from the grip of drugs, adding that “we will achieve it”.
“Punjab ka hai ab ek hi nara, nasha mukauna saara,” he said, invoking the party’s rallying cry for a drug-free Punjab.
Taking on the AAP government, Meghwal said that drugs have reached every corner in the state.
He also said the law and order machinery had deteriorated to the point where police are shielding smugglers while going after vulnerable victims instead.
Meghwal said the BJP’s anti-drug yatra is a social resolve to save Punjab’s young generation from drugs and to make Punjab drug-free.
Citing the BJP’s track record, Meghwal pointed to the party’s handling of organised crime in Uttar Pradesh, Naxalism in West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir as evidence of its ability to follow through on tough commitments.
He appealed for unity to protect “Rangla Punjab” and pledged that once in power, the BJP would confront the drug crisis as the state’s foremost challenge and uproot it entirely.
Speaking on the occasion, Vikramjit Singh Sahney said that people across Punjab had begun to recognise the urgency of joining the yatra to take a collective stand against drugs, asserting that the ballot remained the most powerful tool available to citizens in a democracy.
“This tool would be used decisively to vote the AAP government out of power this time,” he added.
Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Punjab early next year.
Addressing the gathering, Jakhar, the former Punjab BJP chief, said, “Drugs are not looking at any party, caste, religion or creed in Punjab and they are affecting every family. The crisis has moved beyond addiction alone, with those who dared to speak out against the drug trade now facing intimidation and violence from peddlers themselves.
“The state police are repeatedly arresting victims while the actual traffickers continue to operate unchecked.
(PTI News)
