Chandigarh, Feb 10 (PTI) After SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma on Tuesday attended the padyatra being led by Governor Gulab Chand Kataria in Ferozepur, state Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring asked if it was a march against drugs or “Samjhauta (compromise) Express.” Badal’s presence in the anti-drug march has led to speculation about a possible re-alliance between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP before the 2027 Punjab Assembly polls.
On the second day of the four-day anti-drug awareness campaign, Governor Kataria led a foot march in Ferozepur, which saw the participation from Sharma and the chief of Radha Soami Satsang Beas sect, Gurinder Singh Dhillon.
Badal attended the event later but did not directly meet Sharma.
On February 2, Dhillon had met SAD leader Bikramjit Singh Majithia in Nabha jail.
The SAD had parted ways with the National Democratic Alliance in 2020 over the now-repealed three farm laws.
Earlier, there had been speculation that the two former allies could join forces again before the Assembly polls even as the BJP had stated that it was preparing to fight all the 117 seats.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Badal appreciated Kataria’s campaign to make Punjab drug-free.
“The governor has understood the pulse of the people and is travelling from village to village and city to city to create a movement against this menace,” he said.
Badal said drugs have become a scourge in the state and have been affecting the future of an entire generation. It is even more praise-worthy that the governor is leading the campaign in the face of the Aam Aadmi Party government’s failure to tackle it, he asserted.
“I thank the governor for inviting leaders from all parties, social organisations and educational institutions to make this a mass movement,” Badal said.
Meanwhile, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring suggested that through his march against drugs, the governor was apparently trying to help the SAD revive itself for an eventual alliance with the BJP.
“As the anti-drug campaign unfolds, it looks like CPR is being given on the dying Shiromani Akali Dal ahead of the Assembly elections,” he said.
In a post on X, Warring asked, “My humble question to Hon Punjab Governor Shri Ghulab Chand Kataria Ji is whether the march he is leading against drugs is actually a campaign against drugs or an attempt to run the ‘Samjhauta Express’ and prepare the ground for forging an Akali-BJP alliance in the state.” He asked if the governor has taken up the issue of cross-border drug smuggling with the Centre.
“Before leading the march, did you raise the matter with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs under whose jurisdiction the border security falls?” Warring asked the governor.
While the AAP government has “completely failed”, the Congress leader asked, what is the Central government doing to prevent smuggling of drugs from across the border? “I would request you to raise the matter with the Union home ministry before running the ‘Samjhauta Express’ for an Akali-BJP alliance in the name of the anti-drug march,” he urged Kataria. PTI CHS RUK RUK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.