Chandigarh: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP-ruled Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday alleged that the opposition parties - Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP had allowed the state to sink into narcotics, while, they claimed, the state AAP government is now mounting a sustained crackdown to reverse the damage.
Speaking at the Village Defence Committee (VDC) oath ceremony in Moga district, the AAP leaders delivered a message on Punjab’s ‘Yudh Nashean Virudh’ (war against drugs) drive and held that for the first time in Punjab’s history, a government has taken firm action against drug peddlers rather than protecting them. Kejriwal cited the seizure of 2,000 kilograms of drugs, the imprisonment of major traffickers and the demolition of their mansions. Notably, the VDCs have been formed in the state to play a more proactive role in the anti-drugs drive.
Kejriwal also cautioned the people of Punjab that returning previous regimes to power would risk pushing Punjab back into the grip of drugs.
Chief minister Mann in his address reiterated that the ‘Yudh Nashean Virudh’ campaign fulfils AAP’s commitment to erase the stain of ‘chitta’ from Punjab.
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OPPN HITS BACK
Hitting back at the AAP over Moga rally, Partap Bajwa, the leader of opposition - Congress is the principal opposition party in Punjab assembly- said in his post on X: ``890 government buses diverted, a Chief Secretary and DGP on a political stage and we’re supposed to believe this is “governance”? When state machinery becomes party machinery, probity dies and taxpayers foot the bill. Democracy deserves neutrality, not official endorsement’’.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) general secretary Gurpreet Singh Raju Khanna questioned the nature of the Moga rally asking ``If this is purely a political rally, why are the DGP and the Chief Secretary addressing it? And if it is a government programme, then why are political leaders like Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia on the stage?” he asked.
He said this apparent overlap raises concerns about misuse of official machinery and taxpayer resources for partisan activities.
The BJP state chief Sunil Jakhar also alleged that the AAP government in Punjab is politicising the bureaucracy and raised questions over the presence of the Chief Secretary and the DGP at an AAP rally held in Moga.
