CHANDIGARH: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Nitin Nabin on Thursday said the party's anti-drug campaign must reach every corner of Punjab and the state must be freed from drugs. He said at the launch of a 13-day 'Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra'.
"I am not here just to flag off a yatra, but to launch a fight against drugs with a pledge that we will root out the menace,” Nabin said.
The political and social outreach drive aims to mobilise the public against the drug crisis ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.
Nabin flagged off the first of four statewide anti-drug yatras from Ekta Sthal in Madhopur, Pathankot. The second yatra will begin from Fatehgarh Sahib on Saturday, followed by the third from Fazilka on Sunday and the fourth from Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda on Monday.
Together, the four yatras will cover around 4,000 km across all 117 assembly constituencies in Punjab. The campaign aims to create awareness about the side-effects of drugs, especially among the youth. After the yatras conclude, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a rally in Jalandhar by the end of the month on September 30.
Addressing a public gathering, Nabin said Punjab needs opportunities, education and employment rather than substance abuse.
“I have come from Patna with one message that we have to take this anti-drug campaign to every corner of the state. We have to make Punjab drug-free. Today, we are facing an enemy which silently enters our villages, our homes and gradually takes the entire family under its grip. This enemy is drugs. We have to end this scourge." Nabin said.
Before the launch, Nabin met 50 families affected by drug-related deaths and promised political and social support.
Targeting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, Nabin accused the ruling elements of turning Punjab’s drug crisis into a thriving drug industry through corruption and political patronage. He said the AAP government merely gives “tarikh pe tarikh (date after date)” to resolve the crisis while doing nothing on the ground.
Nabin outlined a five-point action plan: Direct action against drug traffickers, disruption of interstate and international supply chains, seizure and confiscation of assets built with illicit drug money, medical and psychological rehabilitation for addicted youth, and community mobilisation involving teachers, doctors, athletes, religious bodies and local youth groups.
On recent incidents of political violence, including an attack on Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu’s convoy in Batala on Friday, Nabin said BJP workers would not be intimidated by stones, threats or administrative pressure.
Senior BJP leaders, including Punjab BJP President Kewal Singh Dhillon were present at the event. Other leaders such as Satish Poonia, Tarun Chugh, Sunil Jakhar, Manpreet Singh Badal, Saudan Singh, Preneet Kaur, Raghav Chadha and Iqbal Singh Lalpura, were also present.
With assembly elections due in Punjab early next year, the BJP plans to build its poll campaign around the issues of drugs and “deteriorating” law and order in the state.
The party has roped in union ministers and several senior leaders to take part in its anti-drug campaign.
Dhillon said the drug problem has destroyed families, but the AAP government has done nothing to curb the menace. “If the BJP forms the government in Punjab, it will wipe out the drug menace,” he said, pointing to the party’s performance record in states governed by it.
Dhillon claimed that the BJP has eliminated Naxalism in states affected by it, besides putting an end to gang violence in Uttar Pradesh and violence in Kashmir.