Punjab Congress to gherao Amit Shah on Jan 12
The Punjab Congress MLAs will gherao Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on the issue of ‘involvement’ of the leaders of his party and that of alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the drug trafficking racket, during his Amritsar visit on January 12. Shah will be launching a state-wide campaign against drug menace on the day.
The Punjab Congress MLAs will gherao Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on the issue of ‘involvement’ of the leaders of his party and that of alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the drug trafficking racket, during his Amritsar visit on January 12. Shah will be launching a state-wide campaign against drug menace on the day.
The announcement to this effect was made by party MLAs Lal Singh, Parminder Singh Pinki, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Gurkirat Singh Kotli and MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, among others.
In a statement, the leaders said the personal staff of state BJP chief Kamal Sharma had been seen with smugglers as pointed out in a report submitted by the officer of the rank of the deputy superintendent of police in Ferozepur.
“The report had mentioned the names of Sharma’s PA Jimmy Sandhu and his officer on special duty Amarinder Singh Chhina among those who had welcomed Sukhwinder Singh Chhinda after his release from Ferozepur jail. Chhinda had been sentenced in a case of drug smuggling and fake currency while a report was also submitted by the state intelligence,” the statement said.
Demanding that the Centre order a CBI probe into drug smuggling in the border state to expose the reality, the Congress said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described Punjab as the state “worst affected” due to drugs in his Mann Ki Baat radio programme.
“Expressing concern is not enough; it should be matched with actions. The sincerity of the ruling BJP at the national level towards eradication of this menace will be established only if action is initiated to expose and arrest the kingpins and not just carriers or addicts, as was done by the government recently,” the statement said.
The leaders said Sharma flip-flopped on the issue of resignation of revenue minister Bikram Singh Majitha who has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with drug smuggling, mainly because of his “own links” with such elements as proved in the official report.