Hoshiarpur (Punjab), Sep 25 (PTI) The AAP government is hand-in-glove with the mafia and has failed to curb the drug menace in the state, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh alleged on Friday, as the party’s ongoing ‘Nasha Mukt Yatra’ reached Hoshiarpur on its sixth day.
Addressing a rally here, the BJP leader alleged that drugs were being sold “like candies” in Punjab and accused the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government of having neither a plan nor a vision or policy to tackle the menace.
Chugh criticised the Mann government and alleged that “the entire Punjab is suffering while his government is busy taking care of Arvind Kejriwal”. He said the government must move beyond advertisements and political claims and answer the families whose lives have been devastated by drugs.
“The BJP is running a mass movement across Punjab against drugs. The yatra started by party national president Nitin Nabin is reaching villages and awakening people to oppose drugs,” Chugh told reporters.
The yatra, which started from Sri Fatehgarh Sahib, is one of four such yatra launched by the BJP to make Punjab drug-free. It started from a local marriage palace here and passed through several parts of the city before culminating in a public rally at Bhagwan Valmiki Chowk near the Sabzi Mandi.
Before the yatra began, BJP leaders met with families affected by drug addiction to know their grievances. Chugh mentioned that he had spoken with mothers whose sons had died from drug-related issues and sisters who were left holding ‘rakhis’ for brothers who were no longer alive.
“This is the pain, anguish and tragedy of Punjab,” he said, alleging that successive governments had failed to deal with the drug menace effectively.
The BJP leader said Punjab cannot accept a situation where drugs destroy its young generation.
“Punjab is sitting on a volcano. If we do not save this generation today, the next generation will pay the price,” Chugh said.
The yatra passed through Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk, where BJP leaders and the public conducted a cleanliness drive, took a pledge against drugs and paid floral tributes at the martyrs’ memorial. It later reached Parshuram Chowk and the war memorial, where they paid tributes to soldiers who had laid down their lives.
The yatra subsequently reached Bhagwan Valmiki Chowk near the Sabzi Mandi, where a public rally was held. Chugh said the BJP had taken five pledges to eradicate drugs — dismantling the network of drug traffickers, eliminating the drug supply chain, stopping the flow of drug money, rehabilitating youngsters trapped in addiction and involving social organisations in turning the campaign into a people’s movement.
He said the BJP had fought against terrorism and Naxalism and would similarly work to eliminate the “monster” of drugs from Punjab.
Speaking on the occasion, former Union minister Vijay Sampla alleged that the Mann government was directly responsible for deaths of youngsters due to drugs.
Former MP Avinash Rai Khanna said thousands of youngsters had lost their lives to addiction and alleged that the AAP government had failed to rein in the menace.
Former MLA Sheetal Angural alleged that post-mortem reports of youngsters who died due to drugs were being recorded as deaths caused by heart attacks.
Chugh also accused the AAP government of squandering Punjab’s money and failing to fulfil its poll promises related to education, agriculture and health.
Referring to medical colleges sanctioned for Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala, Chugh said the Centre had allocated funds for the projects but alleged that the Punjab government had failed to execute them. PTI COR SUN ASD ASD
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