Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s Independence Day speech this Tuesday has brought the focus back on the issue of rampant drug abuse in the state — while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has vowed a drug-free Punjab by next Independence Day, the Opposition has accused it of failing to fulfil one of its main poll promises.
Eradicating the state’s drug abuse problem was one of the AAP’s poll promises in 2022, with its national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal vowing to end it within 3-4 months of coming to power.
Over a year down the line, speaking in Patiala during Independence Day celebrations, Mann said his government has formulated a new policy to end the menace before the “next Independence Day”.
He said the results of this anti-drug crusade will soon be visible as, besides incentivising drug-free villages, every effort will be made to rehabilitate addicts.
“We will work with the cooperation of the villages. Because everybody in the village knows who the sellers of drugs are and who is consuming them. While we would encourage the consumers to be taken to hospital and treated, those involved in selling of the drugs will not be spared,” he said.
“A massive plan is ready… the blueprint is final and you will soon see the reaction to our action,” Mann added.
Calling the CM’s assurances “brazen lies”, the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress, has slammed Mann for seeking another year to make Punjab a drug-free state.
“The Aam Aadmi Party government’s brazen lies about ending the drug abuse in Punjab stand exposed. Had a blueprint been ready, why would he appeal to the people to wait till next August,” Bajwa said in a press statement.
Posting his statement on social media platform X Wednesday, Bajwa included a video clip of Kejriwal talking about ending drug abuse in the run-up to the 2022 assembly elections, alongside one from Mann’s Independence Day speech.
CM @BhagwantMann's assurance to make Punjab a drug-free state by the next Independence Day is nothing but another deceitful promise. In his Independence Day address at Patiala, the Punjab CM claimed to have prepared a blueprint against #Chitta (synthetic drug). However, before… pic.twitter.com/SCXVISuOBA
— Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) August 16, 2023
Labelling Mann a “master” of false promises, BJP national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said Wednesday that the CM’s promise in his Independence Day speech had exposed his “hollow claims”.
In a statement, Shergill said that, next month, the Mann government will complete a year and a half in office, and it is “shameful” that the CM still needs another year to eradicate the drug menace. “I would like to ask Mann what his government was doing till now,” he asked in a press statement.
In its weekly report on action taken against drug peddlers and suppliers, Punjab Police tweeted Monday that 316 drug smugglers were arrested and 231 FIRs lodged.
Taking a strong stance against drug smuggling, Punjab Police has taken down 316 smugglers, launching 231 FIRs. @DGPPunjabPolice orders to CPs/SSPs for thorough investigations mark a determined move forward.
Additionally 13 more POs in NDPS Cases were arrested this week. pic.twitter.com/YNd10EzG7d
— Punjab Police India (@PunjabPoliceInd) August 14, 2023
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‘Colossal drug abuse’
Shergill said there had been more than 200 alleged drug-overdose deaths during Mann’s tenure. “The magnitude of the problem and grimness of the situation is evident from the fact that, almost every second day, there are news reports of ‘drug overdose’ deaths from one or the other district of the state,” he said in his statement.
Shergill demanded that the AAP government bring out a white paper on steps being taken to eradicate the menace.
He also flagged the rising number of suspected drug overdose deaths in Punjab on X last Sunday.
AAP Govt blame game politics & indifferent attitude towards Punjab is fueling fire of drug addiction & trafficking in Punjab!
6/12/2022 – Supreme Court pulls up AAP Punjab Govt on failure to tackle drug trafficking & directs Kejriwal-Bhagwant Mann “be serious about it”… pic.twitter.com/canSOOtg3n
— Jaiveer Shergill (@JaiveerShergill) August 13, 2023
Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira has also raised the issue of deaths due to alleged drug overdose. Reacting to the news of two brothers dying of an alleged drug overdose in Muktsar, Khaira questioned, in a post on X, Mann and Kejriwal’s “silence” on “drug mafia and colossal drug abuse”.
Scores of young boys are dying due to overdoses of drugs in every nook and corner of Punjab but why’re @ArvindKejriwal & @BhagwantMann are totally silent on drug mafia and colossal drug abuse while before elections they promised to eradicate drugs within 3 months of power? And so… pic.twitter.com/Q2dQD1oe3J
— Sukhpal Singh Khaira (@SukhpalKhaira) August 14, 2023
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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