Majitha hooch tragedy exposed AAP govt’s hollow promises on drug-free state: Bajwa

Bajwa said the Majitha hooch tragedy that claimed 27 lives unmasked the AAP government’s hollow promise to make Punjab a drug-free state.

Taking a dig at the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government’s Nasha Mukti Yatra, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Punjab assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Friday said that the AAP government’s Yudh Nashian Virudh (War against Drugs) campaign has already proven to be a fiasco, and now they have come up with this.

The Congress leader said that Kejriwal had vowed to end the drug menace in Punjab within three to four months of forming the government and later, Mann also committed to making Punjab a drug-free state by the Independence Day of 2024. (HT File)

Bajwa said the Majitha hooch tragedy that claimed 27 lives unmasked the AAP government’s hollow promise to make Punjab a drug-free state. “Chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal are launching the Nasha Mukti Yatra from Nawanshahr. However, both have failed awfully to make Punjab a drug-free state within the deadlines they decided. Why should the people of Punjab trust them now?” he asked in a written statement here.

The Congress leader said that Kejriwal had vowed to end the drug menace in Punjab within three to four months of forming the government and later, Mann also committed to making Punjab a drug-free state by the Independence Day of 2024. “Have they eradicated the drug menace in Punjab? The answer is well-known to every Punjabi,” he said, adding, “DGP Gaurav Yadav has now come up with another deadline to end the drug menace in Punjab.”

Bajwa claimed that instead of working on the ground, the AAP government believed in PR exercises by launching campaigns with fancy names.

What’s Kejriwal’s locus standi in Punjab, asks Bittu

Jalandhar: Union minister of state for railways and food processing Ravneet Singh Bittu on Friday questioned Arvind Kejriwal’s locus standi in Punjab government’s ‘Nasha Mukti Yatra’.

In a statement, Bittu said Kejriwal holds no constitutional post in Punjab and the AAP government is anyway not in a position to face the people of Punjab after 27 poor people died after consuming spurious liquor, manufactured with smuggled methanol and “sold under patronage of AAP leaders”.

“Kejriwal to come clean in Delhi liquor cases before giving advice to people of Punjab,” Bittu said.