The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday vowed to completely eradicate the drug menace from Punjab within two years of coming to power in the state.
The announcement came as the party formally unveiled its four statewide “Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatras”, beginning September 18, seeking to turn its anti-drug campaign into a mass movement ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.
The BJP has coined a new slogan for the campaign — “Bhajpa Da Naara, Nasha Mukauna Saara” (BJP’s slogan is to eradicate drugs completely) — and plans to take the yatras through all 117 assembly constituencies till September 30.
Announcing the schedule, Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon said the yatra would focus on three major challenges confronting Punjab—“the drug menace, the deteriorating law and order, and corruption at every level of governance”.
He said the campaign was not merely an anti-drug awareness exercise but an effort to confront what he described as a grave threat to “Punjabiyat, culture, values, courage and the proud identity of the land of the Gurus”.
The drug crisis was tearing families apart, particularly causing immense pain to mothers and sisters, while pushing Punjab’s youth towards addiction, he said.
Dhillon, along with party’s national vice-president Manpreet Singh Badal, former state president Sunil Jakhar and MLA Ashwani Sharma, also unveiled the campaign’s logo during the schedule announcement.
{{/usCountry}}Dhillon, along with party’s national vice-president Manpreet Singh Badal, former state president Sunil Jakhar and MLA Ashwani Sharma, also unveiled the campaign’s logo during the schedule announcement.
{{/usCountry}}Mission drug-free Punjab: Cong, AAP, now BJP
This is not the first time that a political party has promised a deadline to end the drug menace plaguing Punjab. Before the 2017 assembly polls, then Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Captain Amarinder Singh, who went on to become the chief minister, had sworn with a Gutka Sahib in his hands to “break the backbone of drug menace within one month of coming to power”.
Even Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal, before the 2022 assembly polls, had announced to end the menace within six months of coming to power in Punjab.
When asked how the BJP’s commitment was different from those made ahead of previous assembly polls, Dhillon said the BJP’s track record was way ahead of others.
“If the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah can finish naxalism and can end Section 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, why can’t the drug problem be eradicated in Punjab in two years? The home minister has already given a commitment to the nation of making the country drug-free by 2029,” said Dhillon.
Manpreet Badal said people should not see this campaign through a political lens. “The BJP wants to make it a social movement. The present government has only focused on registering 77,000 FIRs and arresting even users. This strategy has backfired as rehabilitation has taken a back seat. We need to crack down on the business of drugs which this government has failed to do,” said Badal.
Jakhar said the drug problem was also fuelling crime, violence and gang-related activities, worsening the law-and-order situation and imposing a heavy financial burden on families, with many being forced into debt or to sell land and other assets for treatment.
Ashwani Sharma said by organising this yatra, the BJP had started a “mahayagya” to clean Punjab.
“The BJP appeals to every citizen of Punjab to take part in this yatra to make drug eradication a people’s movement,” said Sharma.
Four yatras across 117 constituencies
The first yatra will be flagged off by BJP national president Nitin Nabin on September 18 from Ekta Sthal at Madhopur in Sujanpur, Pathankot. It will pass through 34 assembly constituencies across Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar districts before reaching Jalandhar.
The second yatra will begin on September 19 from Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib and cover 24 constituencies across Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Mohali, Rupnagar, Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar, Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts before culminating in Jalandhar.
The third yatra will start on September 20 from the Sadiqi Border (Asafwala 1971 War Memorial) in Fazilka and traverse 22 constituencies across Fazilka, Muktsar, Bathinda, Faridkot, Moga, Ludhiana and Malerkotla.
The fourth yatra will be flagged off from Gurdwara Sri Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo on September 21 and cover 23 constituencies across Bathinda, Mansa, Barnala, Sangrur and Patiala districts before reaching Jalandhar.
The campaign will culminate in Jalandhar on September 30, where Union home minister Amit Shah will address a rally.
During the yatra, BJP leaders will also meet families who lost their family members to drugs.