Bhagwant Singh Mann kicked off a direct door-to-door campaign from Dhuri, carrying the state government's anti-drug performance metrics straight to voters' doorsteps. It’s a calculated escalation. The move directly counters the BJP’s concurrent “Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra,” a statewide rally targeting the ruling party on drug trafficking, law and order, and corruption.
The numbers Mann is pushing are stark. Between March 2025 and September 2026, the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) registered 61,824 FIRs and arrested 81,433 individuals. The crackdown yielded significant seizures: 3,918 kg of heroin, 991 kg of opium, 47 tonnes of poppy husk, 1,416 kg of ganja, and 6.5 million tablets and capsules. The government is framing these figures as proof of aggressive police enforcement, a pillar of its five-point “Yudh Nashean Virudh” strategy.
The prevention and rehabilitation angles are equally central to the pitch. A 14-week anti-drug curriculum is now being taught to 7.5 lakh students across 3,600 schools, with teachers trained to spot early signs of abuse. Grassroots vigilance is also playing a major role; 1.25 lakh citizens have joined nearly 15,000 Village and Ward Defence Committees. Through the Safe Punjab WhatsApp Helpline, over 51,000 tip-offs have directly contributed to more than 25,000 drug-related arrests.
Treatment capacity has expanded sharply. Punjab currently operates 547 Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centres, 219 de-addiction centres, and 91 rehabilitation centres. Admissions to government de-addiction and rehabilitation facilities jumped from 12,200 in 2024 to nearly 34,000 in 2025. Mann’s team is using this surge in admissions to argue that the state is not just arresting users but actively treating them.
The BJP’s yatra is scheduled to cover all 117 Assembly constituencies, culminating in a major event in Jalandhar. With the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections approaching, the drug crisis has become the defining battleground. Mann’s door-to-door strategy aims to bypass the noise of rallies and frame the AAP’s record as one of tangible action, forcing voters to weigh the government's statistical achievements against the opposition’s political attacks.