BJP launches 13-day 'Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra' from Pathankot, puts drug menace centre stage
Pathankot: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday launched a 13-day statewide "Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra", seeking to place the issue of drug abuse at the centre of the political conversation in a State where Assembly elections are due in 2027.
The party's national president, Nitin Nabin, flagged off the first yatra from Pathankot. The campaign is scheduled to cover all 117 Assembly constituencies in Punjab and will culminate in Jalandhar on September 30.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Nabin said drugs should not be allowed to define Punjab's identity. "The people seek a rising Punjab, not an Udta Punjab," he said, invoking the title of a 2016 Hindi film that dealt with substance abuse in the State. He said the fight against drugs needed to become a people's movement and demanded "a decisive fight".
Mr. Nabin alleged that those in power, "using the power of their offices", had promoted corruption and worsened the law-and-order situation, "ruining Punjab through drugs".
He said the BJP's approach would rest on several elements: targeting drug traffickers, breaking supply networks, confiscating the proceeds of trafficking, rehabilitation of people affected by addiction, and carrying the campaign forward with the support of society. The yatras, he said, would connect people with forums for dialogue and with social organisations.
"Today is a very special day. I have come to connect with the pain being experienced in households across Punjab," he said, adding that he had come from Patna, the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, "to take the message of de-addiction to every Punjabi".
The BJP president said his party stood by the promises it made, citing the abrogation of Article 370 and efforts to eliminate terrorism and Naxalism.
He said the party had resolved on August 2 to eliminate drugs from the country. "I have come with a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to begin this campaign from Punjab's soil," he said. "The BJP's track record is established, and we will also eliminate drugs."
Mr. Nabin said Punjab's identity should rest on its heritage, its ideas and its youth. Traditionally, he said, the State had been identified with the Sikh Gurus, "the sweat of farmers, and the spirit of sportspersons", and its people would lead the fight against drugs themselves.
Turning to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the State, he alleged that "the people in power in the State changed Punjab's identity and are destroying its future generations". He alleged that the State government had treated the fight against drugs as a means to political power and had failed to understand people's pain. He further alleged that the government wanted to silence those speaking out against drugs, and warned that the voices of Punjab could not be silenced.
Drug abuse has been a long-standing concern in Punjab, flagged in official and independent studies over the years, and it has been a recurring theme in the State's political debate across successive elections. The "Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatras" are the BJP's latest attempt to mobilise public opinion around the issue ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls.
