AAP, Cong spar over drug menace in Punjab

Acrimonious scenes were witnessed in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday as Treasury and Opposition benches traded charges over the issue of the drug menace in the state.

As the discussion on the government’s state-wide anti-drug campaign, “Yudh Nashian Virudh”, started, ruling party legislators preferred to take on the Congress for allegedly supporting drug traffickers instead of sharing a roadmap to contain the problem.

The AAP attack was led by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and state party chief Aman Arora.

AAP legislators’ attack was centred on SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who has been arrested by the Vigilance in a disproportionate assets case, and the previous Congress government in the state.

Apart from amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income, he has been accused of laundering Rs 540 crore of “drug money”.

In reply, Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa alleged that the government was “misleading people” over the issue and launching personal attacks on Congress leaders as it had “nothing to show”.

He alleged that AAP was trying to blame previous governments for the problem even after being in power for over three years now.

Heated arguments were witnessed between Cheema and Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira as the Finance Minister repeatedly alleged Khaira’s complicity in a 2015 drug case.

Khaira hit back, alleging that the House was being misled on the issue.

The argument between Bajwa and Cheema intensified after the minister accused the Congress leader of supporting Majithia in a video message.

Bajwa pointed out that the Chandigarh Police had registered an FIR against Cheema and Arora for posting his doctored video on Vigilance misconduct against SAD MLA Ganieve Kaur on their Facebook accounts.

In reply, Cheema alleged that there was an “understanding between Bajwa and the BJP”, and said the FIR would not deter AAP from “speaking the truth”.

CM Bhagwant Mann in his concluding remarks explained as to how the network of drug peddlers strengthened over the years due to “political patronage” during the previous government. He put the spotlight on Majithia for “being instrumental in drug deaths in the state” and said he had to pay the price for it.