On Thursday, Baltej Pannu stood before a crowd of journalists at the Punjab government press office in Chandigarh, launching a scathing critique of the BJP’s newly announced Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra.
He accused the party of silence during its 2007‑17 tenure, when drug trafficking surged across the state, and of failing to launch any anti‑drug campaign, despite rising fatalities.
Pannu cited the stalled Enforcement Directorate probe into a drug network that had already identified key players, noting that officer Niranjan Singh was transferred before the investigation could conclude.
He pointed to the National Crime Bureau’s latest report listing 73 ultra‑sensitive districts, of which six lie in Punjab, and demanded the BJP explain why it focuses on Punjab while ignoring drug‑hit districts in other BJP‑ruled states such as Haryana.
In contrast, the AAP‑led Punjab government, under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has launched Yudh Nashean Virudh, deployed anti‑drone systems, and constructed 3,100 sports grounds, with 750 already dedicated to public use, while 25,000 youths joined a Bathinda run.
Pannu concluded that political yatras cannot replace concrete action, urging the BJP to confront its past shortcomings and address the national drug crisis with tangible measures.