Shillong: Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Jalandhar on Wednesday with a blunt promise: finish the illicit chitta trade by December 31, 2029. He told the crowd that the BJP will fight the next Assembly election strictly on the issue of a drug-free Punjab. The rally marked the end of a 13-day, 4,000-kilometer Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra that swept through all 117 Assembly constituencies.
Shah took aim at the current state leadership. He accused the Aam Aadmi Party of letting the drug trade run rampant. "Why has the need arisen today to make Punjab drug-free? Because the Aam Aadmi Party government has allowed the chitta trade to operate openly," he said. He claimed that anyone who insults the Gurus while intoxicated cannot liberate the state, asserting that only the BJP has the track record to fix the crisis.
The Minister provided national seizure data to back his claims. He stated that from 2004 to 2014, the Congress seized 26 lakh kilograms of narcotics. In comparison, he credited the Modi government with seizing 1.2 crore kilograms of drugs between 2014 and 2024. He noted that while Congress-era seizures amounted to 40,000 crore rupees, the BJP's efforts intercepted drugs worth 1,90,000 crore rupees.
Shah met with families devastated by addiction before taking the stage. He described one mother who clutched photos of her two dead sons, pleading with him to save the children of others. The Centre intends to break supply chains and boost the efforts of agencies to stop cross-border smuggling. With the slogan "BJP da Naara, Nasha Mukauna Saara," the party is also hammering the AAP government on corruption and law and order. Punjab faces elections in 2027.
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