CHANDIGARH: The "Yudh Nashian Virudh" (War Against Drugs) campaign by the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government has come under fire from opposition parties after 21 people died in a hooch tragedy Tuesday (May 13).
Calling the campaign mere “political theatre,” the opposition has demanded a judicial inquiry monitored by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
While holding CM Mann directly responsible for the tragic incident, Leader of the Opposition, Partap Singh Bajwa said, "Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has publicly stated that such a tragedy could not have occurred without political, bureaucratic, or police support. I agree with him. If the liquor mafia is flourishing under his nose, he is either complicit or incompetent. This is not the first incident in the three-year regime of the AAP".
"In March last year, eight people died after consuming illicit liquor in the Dirba assembly segment of Sangrur district. Notably, the Dirba assembly segment is being represented by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, and Sangrur is a home district of CM Bhagwant Mann,’’ he further stated.
Bajwa stated that drug overdose deaths among Punjabi youth have become the new normal, and the recent incident has exposed the AAP government's insincerity in its promise to make Punjab drug-free.
"DGP Punjab Gaurav Yadav has set a May 31 deadline for eradicating the drug menace from the state. Earlier, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal had also set deadlines in vain. Would the AAP government bother to let the Punjabis know what happened to those deadlines?" Bajwa asked.
"The Excise Minister Harpal Cheema must resign immediately. Anything less would be an insult to the lives lost,’’ he voiced. He demanded a judicial inquiry monitored by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring urged the government to provide adequate compensation to the dependents, and at the same time he demanded fixing responsibility over the deaths, which, he remarked, were like cold-blooded murders of unsuspecting people.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring urged the government to provide adequate compensation to the victims' families and demanded accountability, calling the deaths cold-blooded murders of unsuspecting people.
He questioned the government’s claims of eradicating drugs in Punjab by May 31. “Not that we believed you could do that, but at least we did not expect that besides the drug over dose, people would also die from spurious liquor produced under the nose of your government,’’ he stated.
Punjab BJP President Sunil Jakhar alleged that individuals jailed for liquor scams are now running the state from government residences in Chandigarh, questioning what good can be expected from such people. He announced that the BJP will meet Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to demand a probe into how those without any constitutional role are conducting official meetings in Punjab.
He alleged that the same people who crafted Delhi’s liquor policy influenced Punjab’s policy, leading to the current situation. Jakhar emphasised that this issue warrants an impartial probe.
Expressing grief over the Majitha incident, he called Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann a mere puppet and held AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia responsible. He claimed that after being ousted by Delhi’s electorate, they have shifted their focus to Punjab.
Jakhar further alleged that the liquor mafia, previously active in Delhi, is now thriving in Punjab, exploiting the poor. He accused liquor traders of receiving political patronage, which is why such tragic incidents continue to occur.
He pointed out that the government failed to learn from the earlier Sangrur liquor tragedy, leading to the loss of more innocent lives.
Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu slammed chief minister Bhagwant Mann over the hooch tragedy.
Taking to X, Bittu alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government’s Yudh Nasheyan De Virudh (anti-drug) campaign was just a “political theatre”. “Families are shattered by spurious liquor, while the @BhagwantMann government remains in deep slumber. Their so-called ‘Yudh Nasheyan De Virudh’ is nothing but political theatre. When the chief minister himself has a history with alcohol, how can the fight against addiction ever be sincere?” the post read.
Former ministers Surjit Singh Rakhra and Parminder Singh Dhindsa have described the deaths resulting from the liquor incident in the Majitha constituency as an official murder.
Dhindsa stated that the ongoing war against drugs is merely a facade. The people of Punjab have decided to initiate a movement against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and seek to remove the AAP government in Punjab, similar to what has happened in Delhi. Both leaders called for a time-bound magisterial inquiry by the government.
Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majitha accused the government of shielding the prime accused and claimed that officials from the excise department were complicit in the racket. He demanded compensation of Rs 25 lakh for each victim, criticising the government's failure to crack down on bootleggers and illicit liquor smugglers.