Ludhiana/Jalandhar/Amritsar
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will launch a statewide anti-drug yatras from next month across all 117 assembly constituencies of Punjab, party’s national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh said on Tuesday.
The campaign is set to be one of the party’s major political programmes ahead of the Punjab assembly elections due early next year.
The campaign comes months after Union home minister Amit Shah, while addressing the BJP’s “Badlav Rally” in Moga on March 14, said that only a BJP government could completely rid Punjab of the drug menace. The BJP has since sought to make drugs, law and order and governance key issues in its preparations for the assembly elections.
Senior BJP leaders from the Centre are expected to lead the yatras at different locations across the state. Through the campaign, the party plans to take the issue of drugs directly to voters and make the drug menace a central electoral issue while also expanding its organisational presence across Punjab.
Santosh made the announcement on the second day of his two-day visit to Punjab, where he held a series of organisational meetings with party leaders and workers in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. He reviewed the BJP’s preparations for the 2027 assembly elections and sought feedback on the party’s organisational activities and local political equations.
{{/usCountry}}Santosh made the announcement on the second day of his two-day visit to Punjab, where he held a series of organisational meetings with party leaders and workers in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. He reviewed the BJP’s preparations for the 2027 assembly elections and sought feedback on the party’s organisational activities and local political equations.
{{/usCountry}}At the Ludhiana meeting, Santosh accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of failing on drugs, law and order and development. He alleged that the AAP government had worsened the situation in Punjab and claimed that its policies had also contributed to the migration of industries from the state.
Santosh urged party workers to take the BJP’s policies and issues to the people through every available platform.
The Ludhiana meeting was attended by leaders and office-bearers from Ludhiana Urban, Ludhiana Rural, Moga, Jagraon, Khanna, Malerkotla and Ropar. Santosh also chalked out the party’s programmes up to November and directed leaders to complete the formation of booth-level committees by September 30.
At the Jalandhar meeting, Santosh emphasised the need to strengthen the party organisation from the grassroots level. He said the BJP must take along senior and long-serving leaders and workers as well as those who had recently joined the party.
Only five months are left before Punjab goes to the polls, he said, calling upon party workers to build a strong team and ensure that the BJP’s message, ideology and achievements reach every household.
He also urged workers to participate in maximum numbers in programmes being organised under the ‘Samrasta Sankalp Abhiyan’ to mark the 650th birth anniversary of Sant Ravidas and to take his teachings to every household.
In Amritsar, Santosh told party workers that the BJP was fully prepared to contest all 117 assembly seats and expressed confidence that the party would form the government in Punjab. He said the BJP was being widely discussed across the state and asserted that political change would come to Punjab.
Santosh also took a swipe at the AAP, saying the state government had failed on every front and suggesting that an internal crisis could emerge within the ruling party. He reviewed organisational reports from Amritsar Urban, Amritsar Rural-1, Amritsar Rural-2, Batala, Ferozepur, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Pathankot.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon also attacked the AAP government over the drug menace, law and order and the state’s debt burden. He alleged that people were living under fear because of gangster networks and accused the government of worsening Punjab’s economic situation.