Punjab Congress Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and AAP chief Aman Arora united in their critique of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s 13-day Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra, arguing that political rallies cannot solve the state's drug crisis. Bajwa specifically questioned the efficacy of the Centre’s 2021 decision to expand the Border Security Force’s operational jurisdiction from 15 km to 50 km from the international border, noting that cross-border smuggling via drones continues. “What has the Centre achieved with this additional jurisdiction? How many major trafficking networks have actually been dismantled?” Bajwa asked, demanding concrete data on intercepted narcotics and prosecuted handlers rather than slogans.
Arora sharpened the attack by invoking the BJP’s past rule in Punjab. He pointed to the 2007-2017 period of Akali-BJP governance, claiming that illicit heroin, locally known as “chitta,” reached every household during that time. “Today, the BJP is taking out a yatra on the drug issue,” Arora said, challenging the party to explain the source of drugs entering the state while highlighting the investigation involving former Akali minister Bikram Singh Majithia and the transfer of probe officer Niranjan Singh.
The exchange reveals a strategic split. Bajwa insisted that neither the BJP-led Centre nor the AAP government can wash their hands of the crisis, stating that both Amit Shah and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann must answer to the public. He highlighted the role of criminal networks allegedly operated by gangsters in prisons across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Delhi, arguing that border security alone is insufficient without tackling these internal syndicates.
The BJP has made the drug menace a central political issue ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. Meanwhile, the AAP government faces ongoing opposition attacks over the availability of narcotics and the effectiveness of its own anti-drug campaign. The next phase of this political battle will likely focus on the release of specific data regarding drone interceptions and the status of pending prosecution cases against cross-border trafficking networks.