In Punjab, why drug crisis takes centre stage ahead of 2027 polls | Political Pulse News
While the BJP’s 13-day Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra has entered its second leg, the anti-drug campaign is fast becoming a multi-cornered political contest.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has launched a women-led anti-drug campaign, even as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the principal Opposition Congress have castigated the previous BJP-SAD alliance and the Centre’s handling of drug trafficking.
The BJP’s four simultaneous yatras, which began on September 18, will culminate in Jalandhar on September 30. The party has projected them as a statewide anti-drug movement, while attacking the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government over drugs, law and order and governance.
This has also triggered political confrontations. In Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ludhiana, the AAP supporters have protested against the BJP roadshows with black flags. The workers of the two parties have also exchanged slogans.
The BJP took out its processions in trucks, tractors and motorcycles, and held public meetings along the route.
Political temperature rose in Bathinda Monday after Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan alighted from his vehicle and walked through parts of Maiserkhana after his convoy encountered low-hanging electricity wires. BJP leaders alleged the obstruction was “deliberate”, but Chouhan played down the incident, saying he had no objection to walking and that his focus was on fighting drugs.
SAD campaign
On the same day, the SAD launched its own anti-drug Mawan Dhiyan Insaaf Yatra from Bathinda, led by MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Unlike the BJP’s statewide roadshow, the SAD campaign consists of protest marches in different constituencies, with women from families affected by drug addiction joining members of the Istri Akali Dal. Memorandums are being submitted at SDM offices, seeking action against the drug supply and support for affected families.
The campaign gives the SAD a separate platform on an issue likely to remain central to Punjab politics ahead of the state Assembly elections slated for early 2027.
Addressing women in Bathinda, Harsimrat said several families were approaching her over sons who had fallen victim to drugs, and alleged that narcotics were now available through “home delivery”. She blamed both the AAP government and the previous Congress government for failing to fulfil their promises to tackle the drug problem.
So far, the SAD has not presented its campaign as a counter to the BJP yatra, instead building its own mobilisation around the issue. The distinction is notable amid speculation over a possible revival of the SAD-BJP alliance, which broke in 2020 over the now-repealed farm laws.
So far, the BJP has maintained that it is preparing to contest all 117 seats, while the SAD has remained non-committal on the alliance question.
SAD spokesperson Daljeet Singh Cheema said the scale of the drug problem warranted political attention.
“The gravity of the issue is such that people themselves are coming out and telling that their family members are addicted,” he said. “It is high time to talk on the issue rather than staying quiet simply if the ruling party doesn’t like to accept the truth.”
AAP rakes up BJP-SAD past
For the AAP, the BJP’s campaign has provided an opportunity to renew its attack on the party’s previous alliance with the SAD.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, addressing an organisational gathering in Ludhiana on Saturday, alleged that the BJP and SAD had allowed drugs to spread between 2007 and 2017 and that the problem increased under the Congress government led by Captain Amarinder Singh between 2017 and 2022.
Mann has also sought to shift the debate from Punjab to the wider drug-trafficking network. He has asked the BJP-led Centre to address alleged trafficking routes through Gujarat, including consignments seized at Mundra port, and accused the Opposition parties of portraying Punjab as a state plagued by drugs while ignoring the wider national smuggling network.
The Congress has approached the issue from another angle. Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, speaking in Amritsar on Tuesday, criticised the BJP yatra and called for greater focus on cross-border trafficking, including the alleged movement of drugs and weapons through drones from Pakistan. He urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to focus on the border and wider supply network.
Message through protest
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon accused the AAP government of “patronising” the drug mafia and said the party would eliminate drugs from Punjab within two years if voted to power. He also pointed to central agencies such as the DRI as having mechanisms to check drug supplies entering through ports.
The BJP has, however, faced uneven crowd mobilisation. In Doraha on Sunday, the response was described as lukewarm.
In Batala, shopkeepers reportedly stopped the yatra, telling BJP leaders that while they supported the anti-drug campaign, they wanted the Union government to address concerns over proposed charges on UPI transactions.
A BJP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party was not concerned by the protests or crowd size.
“Let the AAP continue showing black flags or whatever they want. Our outreach is happening now in rural areas and people are reaching out to us to talk on the issue,” the leader said.
BJP state spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal said the party had consistently raised the drug issue. “If the SAD is also doing something on the issue now, it is good. The issue is serious and it must be addressed,” he said, adding that he had heard the Congress would also launch a drug-related programme next month.
