DW BUREAU

Following the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government's plans to launch the second phase of its much-publicisedcised Yudh Nashian Virudh (War against Drugs) campaign, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa expressed grave concern on Saturday.

He questioned whether the AAP government had actually completed the first phase of the campaign. "The AAP claimed that they successfully disrupted the supply chain of drugs, primarily heroin, during the first phase of the three-month campaign that ended in May. This claim is highly misleading. The drug supply chain remains intact, and Punjabi youth, including women, continue to abuse drugs, with overdose-related deaths still occurring. The AAP government has failed in the first phase of its fight against drugs," Bajwa stated.

Senior Congress Leader Bajwa further noted that drug smugglers have shifted the youth's focus from chitta (heroin) to meth, commonly known as ICE. This drug is cheaper, more potent, and easier to manufacture, which is an even more alarming development.

Accusing the AAP government of seeking publicity for its unsuccessful war against drugs, Bajwa indicated that the AAP appears to be in a rush to prove it has tackled the drug issue. However, the reality on the ground is quite the opposite. "The senior leadership of AAP, including AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has already failed to make Punjab a drug-free state within their established deadlines."

(editor@dailyworld.in)