E-Paper
Double-engine govt giving patronage to drug mafia in Gujarat? asks Rahul, Priyanka
Congress has been attacking the BJP-ruled Gujarat government after at least 36 people died in a recent hooch tragedy in the state.
Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over repeated drugs recoveries from Mundra port in Gujarat, the Congress on Monday said the ‘double-engine government’ (a popular term of the BJP to refer to the party’s rule at the Centre and states) are constantly giving ‘patronage’ to drug lords that raised questioned on the state’s law and order.
The Congress has been attacking the ruling BJP in Gujarat – also Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state – over the rise in illegal drugs and liquor supply after over 36 people died and many more were hospitalised in a recent hooch tragedy.
Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked why are the youth of Gujarat being forced into drugs. “Drugs recovered at Gujarat's Mundra port – September of 2021, 3000 kg worth ₹21,000 crore; May 2022, 56 kg worth ₹500 crore and July 2022, 75 kg worth ₹375 crore. Who are the people sitting in the double engine government who are constantly giving ‘patronage’ to the drug-liquor mafia. Why are the youth of Gujarat being forced into drugs,” Gandhi’s tweet roughly translated from Hindi read.
In another tweet, he asked despite the seizure of drugs at the same port thrice, how the drugs were landing at the same port every time.
"Despite the drugs being recovered thrice at the same port, how are the drugs landing continuously at the same port? Is law and order in Gujarat over? Don't the mafia have any fear of the law? Or is it a mafia government?" Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
Congress general secretary and Rahul’s sister Priyanka Gandhi also attacked the BJP over the issue.
"Silence in the media; sluggish government; all agencies of the government are silent. From right under the nose of the BJP government, the mafia is distributing drugs all over the country. Is law and order helpless or is there collusion with the mafia," she tweeted.
On Friday, Rahul Gandhi had raised questions on the state of law and order in Gujarat, asking who was “shielding these mafia members” in the land of Bapu and Sardar Patel.
He was referring to the hooch tragedy in the Botad district and Dhandhuka taluka of neighbouring Ahmedabad district. At least 13 people were detained in the case.
