Union Home Minister to visit Mansa, Gurdaspur and Sangrur; BJP seeks to highlight the drug menace ahead of Punjab Assembly elections

Chandigarh, 18 October (H.S.): Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Punjab on October 20 and meet the families of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhotta in Mansa. The visit carries political significance as the BJP has been targeting the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government over the issue of drug trafficking in the state.

This will be Amit Shah’s second visit to Punjab within approximately a month. Senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu announced the visit on Sunday.

Shah is expected to spend the entire day in Punjab meeting the families of people who have allegedly lost their lives in incidents linked to the drug menace. After visiting Mansa, he will travel to Gurdaspur to meet the family of Vikramjit Singh. He will then proceed to Sangrur to meet the family of Gulzar Singh and discuss the devastating impact of drugs on Punjab.

Parvinder Singh Jhotta, an anti-drug activist from Mansa, was allegedly shot dead on October 13 after opposing drug-related activities. Two days later, on the night of October 15, Vikramjit Singh was also shot dead in Mari Pannwan village in the Sri Hargobindpur Sahib area after reportedly opposing the sale of drugs.

Gulzar Singh died by suicide on September 8 after consuming pesticide. Before his death, he reportedly claimed that he had complained to Punjab Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema about the sale of chitta in his village and was threatened afterward.

The circumstances surrounding these incidents have brought renewed attention to the drug problem and its consequences for families and communities across Punjab.

With approximately three months remaining before the Punjab Assembly elections, the BJP has been making the drug menace a key political issue. The party has already conducted its ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’, which concluded in Jalandhar on September 30 in the presence of Amit Shah.

Shah has announced that if the BJP forms the government in Punjab, the state will be made drug-free by December 31, 2029. His latest visit is therefore expected to carry both political and social significance, particularly as the party intensifies its campaign against drug trafficking ahead of the elections.

Following Jhotta’s death, Shah had reiterated his commitment to building a drug-free, gangster-free and safe Punjab in a post on social media platform X.

“I reiterate my resolve before the people of Punjab today that, if our government comes to power in Punjab, we will work with full determination to make the state drug-free, gangster-free and safe,” Shah wrote.

He further stated that the BJP’s objectives included cracking down on the drug trade, protecting the future of young people, taking strict action against criminals and establishing the rule of law so that no citizen is forced to live in fear.

Hindusthan Samachar / GURSHARAN SINGH