NEW DELHI: Hitting out the Congress a day ahead of voting for Haryana Assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused the grand old party of leading the nation’s youth into the “dark world of drugs” in the wake of a recent drug bust in Delhi by the Police involving a consignment worth over Rs 5,000 crore.
The Delhi Police have arrested Tushar Goel, the main accused, following the recovery of more than 500 kg of cocaine and 40 kg of hydroponic marijuana worth over Rs 5,600 crore in a raid conducted in south Delhi on Wednesday.
The Congress, however, denied the allegations and said the party has no links with Tushar Goel, the alleged kingpin behind Delhi’s biggest drug haul.
In a long post in Hindi on his official ‘X’ handle, the Home Minister claimed that while the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi “is committed to a zero tolerance policy on drugs” and “is working to guide the youth towards education, sports, and innovation," the Congress is allegedly “using its political influence to enable drug trafficking.”
He said, “At a time when the government is adopting a zero-tolerance policy for a ‘Drug-Free India’, the involvement of a prominent Congress leader in the Rs 5,600 crore drug consignments seized from North India is extremely dangerous and shameful.”
Further highlighting the impact of drugs on the youth in states like Punjab and Haryana during the Congress regime, the Home Minister said, in contrast, the Modi government’s efforts are to steer the youth towards sports, education, and innovation. He also accused the Congress of making attempts to drag the youth back into “the dark world of drugs."
“The sin of Congress leaders using their political influence to push the youth into the quagmire of drugs will never be allowed to succeed by the Modi government,” Shah said, while asserting that the government was committed to dismantling the entire drug network, regardless of the political standing of those involved.
While the Congress has denied any link with Tushar Goyal, the latter reportedly admitted during questioning that he previously served as the chairman of the RTI cell for the Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress until 2022.
The Delhi Police investigators have also discovered that Goel had a social media profile where he mentions himself as RTI Cell Chairman, Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress.
Goyal, who used the alias “Dikki Goyal” on social media, posted photos with several prominent Congress leaders, including Lok Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda and Haryana unit chief Uday Bhan.
The BJP on Thursday alleged that the kingpin, Tushar Goel, arrested in connection with the seizure of drugs is the chairman of the Delhi Youth Congress’ RTI cell, which was refuted by the party unit as baseless.
The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) said in a statement soon after BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had charged the opposition party with having links with drug dealers. In the statement, the Congress’ youth wing said Goel was expelled from the organisation on October 17, 2022, for anti-party activities.