Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Patiala, Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh today said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should focus on tackling the drug menace instead of following the panthic agenda.
Amarinder said the Akalis accused Congress vice-president Rahul of defaming Punjab when he raised the drug issue a few years ago. But union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot left the party red faced on Friday when he pointed out the extent of the drug menace in the state. Gehlot at a press conference in Hoshiarpur said, “The state of Punjab has the highest percentage of addicts in India.” Capt Amarinder said, “Let Badal now say that the BJP is defaming Punjab. A Central minister has made quite a statement in the presence of the Chief Minister. The BJP has distanced itself from the SAD on the drug issue as the Akalis instead of tackling real problems in the state have reverted to the panthic agenda.” Captain Amarinder Singh was on a visit to the city regarding his upcoming book on the 1965 India-Pakistan War.
He said the BJP after being the SAD’s alliance partner for nine years have begun to question the Akalis on the drug issue as the menace had not been rooted out.
“In the 1970s, drug trafficking was rampant in the state as the Akalis did not check drug supply. A large number of youths then became drug addicts. I fear the same can happen again if Badal does not check the menace because dangerous chemical drugs have replaced poppy husk and opium,” Amarinder said.
He further added people should not be fooled by the Badals’ argument that the state was fighting the nation’s war on drugs. The former Chief Minister said the BJP was correctly claiming that the drug menace had reached alarming proportions.
On Sukhbir Badal’s statement that he should hold a ‘paschatap’ yatra instead of a Punjab yatra, Capt said, “The people of the state know who should do ‘paschatap’.”
