Fazilka, Sep 20 (PTI) Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday said the BJP’s ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’ is “a social reform programme to save Punjab” and it should not be viewed through a political lens.
Meghwal was in Punjab’s Fazilka, where he flagged off the third of the BJP’s four statewide anti-drug yatras in the state.
The first yatra was launched by BJP president Nitin Nabin in Pathankot on Friday and the second one by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta in Fatehgarh Sahib on Saturday.
Before launching the yatra, Meghwal, the Union Minister of State for Law and Justice, paid tributes to martyrs at Asafwala War Memorial in Fazilka.
Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon, former state unit president Sunil Jakhar and senior party leader Manpreet Singh Badal were present on the occasion.
Addressing a gathering in Fazilka, Meghwal said the BJP’s anti-drug yatras were not government programmes.
“Some people are viewing today’s programme through a political lens; it shouldn’t be. This is a programme for social reform. This is a programme to save Punjab and its future generation. This is to make a developed Punjab,” said Meghwal.
Targeting the Bhagwant Mann government, Meghwal said they have “ruined” the entire system.
“When the police colluded in this drug trade and promoted it, the law and order situation collapsed,” he alleged.
He said the BJP stands by the public to wipe out drug abuse.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon lashed out at the AAP government over the suicide of a Dalit man, Gulzar Singh, in Sangrur.
Dhillon said Gulzar Singh had just asked Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema about the supply of drugs in his area. He died by suicide after he was threatened, he said.
Gulzar Singh died by consuming poison on September 7. His family alleged that he was harassed and subjected to casteist slurs for questioning Cheema at an event in Dirba on the supply of drugs in the area. PTI CHS RUK RUK
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