Even as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stepped up its campaign ahead of the bypolls in Punjab with its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday addressing a couple of rallies, the issue of drug menace has come to the centre stage, a day after he sought help from newly-elected village ‘sarpanches’ to wipe out “the curse of drugs”.
Hitting out at the AAP, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) alleged that the State government has failed to eradicate drug menace from Punjab, which the ruling party had pledged as a key part of its election promise to wipe it off in four months after assuming power in 2022.
‘Pass on the buck’
“After failing to curb the drug menace, Mr. Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann are trying to pass on the buck to ‘sarpanches’ and ‘panches’, which was evident during a ceremony held to administer oath of office to the latter, a day ago,” senior SAD leader and former minister Daljit Singh Cheema said here.
Mr. Cheema said the AAP had come to power in the State on the promise of eradicating the drug menace within one month. “Now after having failed in the task and upon being accused of patronising the drug mafia, its supremo Arvind Kejriwal has passed on this responsibility to the Sarpanches and Panches. Also, Mr. Kejriwal should tell Punjabis about who was behind the drugs [problem] in the State as the AAP leader earlier used to accuse political leaders of being behind this menace. Kejriwal cannot indulge in a blame-game on this issue any longer,” he said.
Mr. Kejriwal, while addressing a State-level function as chief guest on November 8 in which Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann administered the oath of office to ‘sarpanches’, had given a clarion call to ‘sarpanches’ to wipe out the curse of drugs.
Addressing a rally at Chabbewal, Mr. Kejriwal said: “Two-and-a-half-years ago, you gave AAP an historic mandate. Therefore, your expectations are also high. Two-and-a-half-years ago, people in Punjab were most troubled by high electricity bills. We promised you that we would waive off your old bills and your future bills would be zero. We fulfilled that promise. Now, people’s electricity bills are zero,” he said.
At another rally at Dera Baba Nanak, Mr. Kejriwal hit out at Bharatiya Janta Party and the Congress. “The BJP governs in nearly 20 States of the country, and other States are governed by different parties. AAP has its government in Punjab and Delhi only, and in both places, people’s electricity bills are zero,” he said.
“The Congress leaders think politics is a business. Unlike them, we are not here for money, we want to serve the people,” he added.
The bypolls in Punjab are slated for November 20 for Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal and Barnala Assembly constituencies. The bypolls in these constituencies were necessitated after the seats fell vacant following their representatives (MLAs) being elected to the Lok Sabha.
The ruling AAP, the Congress and the BJP are facing each other in the electoral battle. The SAD had announced it would not contest the byelections.
Published - November 09, 2024 09:08 pm IST
