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AAP, Congress Challenge Amit Shah’s Punjab Anti-Drug Campaign
Amit Shah held an anti-drug rally in Jalandhar, Punjab.
He blamed the state’s AAP government for allowing synthetic drugs to be sold.
He promised that Punjab would be free of drugs by December 2029 if the BJP wins the next state election.
The AAP disagreed and said drugs are also arriving from other states.
It pointed to a large drug seizure in Gujarat on the same day.
The AAP said Gujarat, rather than Punjab, should be the starting point for a national anti-drug campaign.
Congress also criticized Shah’s deadline and accused the central government of acting because elections are approaching.
Both parties called for action against drug networks across India.
AAP urged Amit Shah to begin his anti-drug campaign in Gujarat rather than Punjab.
Gujarat ATS and the Indian Coast Guard seized 526 kilograms of methamphetamine and heroin worth over Rs 3,000 crore.
Amit Shah accused Punjab’s AAP government of allowing the open trade of synthetic drug “chitta”.
Shah promised that Punjab would be drug-free by December 2029 if the BJP wins the 2027 assembly election.
AAP and Punjab Congress said drug trafficking requires a coordinated national response, including action against interstate networks.
- Who
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab Congress, and the BJP are the main political actors mentioned.
- What
- AAP and Congress criticized Shah’s Punjab anti-drug campaign, while Shah attacked the AAP government’s handling of drugs.
- Where
- Shah addressed a rally in Jalandhar, Punjab, while the cited drug seizure occurred in Gujarat.
- When
- The statements and rally took place on September 30; Shah’s campaign had begun on September 18.
- Why
- The dispute concerns responsibility for Punjab’s drug problem, the role of interstate supply networks, and Shah’s promise to end the menace by December 2029.
AAP and Congress
BJP and Amit Shah
Responsibility for drug trafficking
AAP and Congress
AAP and Congress said Punjab should not be made a scapegoat and that the Centre must address interstate and cross-border supply networks.
BJP and Amit Shah
Amit Shah blamed the AAP government for allegedly allowing the open trade of “chitta” in Punjab.
Focus of the anti-drug campaign
AAP and Congress
AAP said Shah should begin his Nasha Mukt Yatra in Gujarat, citing the large seizure there and alleged drug routes through the state.
BJP and Amit Shah
The BJP campaign focused on Punjab, where Shah’s rally addressed the state’s drug problem and promised to eliminate it.
2029 deadline
AAP and Congress
Punjab Congress leader Amrinder Singh Raja Warring called the December 2029 deadline excessively long and politically unreliable.
BJP and Amit Shah
Shah pledged that Punjab would be drug-free by December 2029 if the BJP is elected in the 2027 assembly polls.
Key facts
- Rally location
- Paragpur in Jalandhar, Punjab
- Campaign route
- The BJP’s Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra began in Pathankot on September 18 and concluded in Jalandhar.
- Drug seizure
- The Gujarat ATS and Indian Coast Guard seized 526 kilograms of methamphetamine and heroin.
- Estimated value
- The seized drugs were valued at more than Rs 3,000 crore.
- Amit Shah’s deadline
- Shah promised to make Punjab drug-free by December 2029 if the BJP wins the 2027 assembly election.
- AAP’s supply claim
- AAP claimed that around 80 percent of pharmaceutical tablets and capsules available in Punjab originate outside the state.
Quotes
Amrinder Singh Raja Warring
Punjab Congress president criticizing the Centre’s timing and response
“If Amit Shah is serious about ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’, he should start his ‘Nasha Mukt Yatra’ from Gujarat, not Punjab.”
theprint.in
“Now that elections are round the corner, Shah has woken up to the problem of drugs in Punjab.”
theprint.in
Sources
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