Harsimrat Kaur Badal takes on Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann over drug menace

New Delhi, December 20

Two Punjab MPs today made contrasting speeches in the Lok Sabha. While Congress MP Gurjit Singh Aujla suggested a ‘collective approach’ to tackle the drug menace, Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was ‘drinking and driving a state’.

They were speaking during ‘call the attention’ of the Minister of Home Affairs to the problem of drug abuse and steps taken by the government.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “We need to start anti-drug education for kids from Class V onwards,” demanding stricter law enforcement to check drug abuse.

The country, he said, had to deal with external enemies and also the enemies within, he said, adding that synthetic drugs and ‘chitta’ (a drug concoction) was being made within.

Badal, speaking in the House, alleged, “The CM of our state (Punjab) used to sit in the House a few months ago. The person, who used to come to Parliament in an inebriated state, is now running the state.”

“If the CM is like this, then you can imagine what will be the condition of the state. We find ‘Don’t drink and drive’ written on the roads but they are drinking and driving the state,” Badal alleged.

MP from Jalandhar Santokh Chaudhary alleged that drugs were brought into Punjab during the Akali-BJP rule (2007-2017). He named a police officer and alleged that he had links with officials. The Akali Dal and the BJP were in power in Punjab.

Simranjit Singh Mann, MP from Sangrur, said Punjab was being projected as a land of drug users and alcohol users.

Fix responsibility, says Cong MP

• Congress MP Gurjit Singh Aujla drove the discussion towards fixing responsibility
• The ‘truck scanner’ installed at the integrated check post at Attari (the land trade route with Pakistan) was not capable of detecting drugs, he said
• Please punish those who purchased the wrong scanner,” said Aujla