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Amit Shah’s claim to make Punjab drug-free a hollow slogan: Bajwa
Bajwa pointed out that Punjab shared an international border of over 500 km and the jurisdiction up to 50 km inside the state was under the Border Security Force, which functioned directly under the Union home ministry, headed by Shah himself
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa on Saturday termed Union home minister Amit Shah’s claim that the BJP would make Punjab drug-free within two years as nothing but a “hollow political slogan meant to deceive people”.
He pointed out that Punjab shared an international border of over 500 km and the jurisdiction up to 50 km inside the state was under the Border Security Force (BSF), which functioned directly under the Union home ministry, headed by Shah himself.
“If the border security apparatus is completely under the control of the Union home ministry, then Amit Shah must answer why drugs and arms continue to pour into Punjab. Before preaching to Punjab, the home minister must explain his own government’s failure to secure the border,” Bajwa said.
Reacting sharply to Shah’s allegation that the Congress had signed an agreement with the World Trade Organization (WTO) to end the Minimum Support Price (MSP), Bajwa called the statement “a white lie and politically motivated”.
“Instead of making false allegations from political stages, Amit Shah should present documentary proof. False propaganda cannot hide the BJP’s anti-farmer policies,” he said.
Bajwa further reminded the BJP leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to double farmers’ income by 2022, which he said “remained completely unfulfilled”.
Bajwa added that the BJP had already shown this attitude by imposing the three black farm laws on farmers and by disrupting Punjab’s vital trade routes during the farmers’ protest, causing massive economic losses to the state.
An outsourced show with outsourced hosts, outsourced guests: Warring
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring claimed that much against the hype and rhetoric created by the BJP, its rally in Moga proved to be a complete “damp squib despite Punjab government’s support”.
“It was an outsourced show, with outsourced hosts and outsourced guests,” Warring remarked, while saying that the rally was “hosted” by the AAP government with full support and people were transported from neighbouring states like Rajasthan and Haryana, both ruled by the BJP. “There was nothing Punjabi about the BJP’s Punjab rally, as everything was outsourced,” he remarked.
The PCC president noted that the BJP’s rally was “wholeheartedly” supported by the AAP government in Punjab, pointing out how the Punjab Police was detaining those it suspected of opposing the rally. He said the AAP government’s support for the BJP’s rally was not lost on the people of Punjab, who already knew that “the AAP was the other version of the BJP”.
Stating that the people of Punjab will no longer be carried away by the BJP’s “shallow and hollow rhetoric”, he remarked that Shah failed to offer any solutions for the state’s issues.
