Daijiworld Media Network - Chandigarh
Chandigarh, Sep 12: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday pledged to completely eradicate the drug menace from Punjab within two years of coming to power, as it announced four statewide ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatras’ ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
The 13-day campaign will begin on September 18 and cover all 117 Assembly constituencies across the state under the slogan, “Bhajpa Da Naara, Nasha Mukauna Saara” (BJP’s slogan is to eradicate drugs completely). The four yatras will collectively cover nearly 4,000 km before converging in Jalandhar on September 30.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon, who announced the programme in Chandigarh, said the campaign would focus on three major challenges facing the state — the growing drug menace, deteriorating law and order, and corruption at different levels of governance.
Dhillon said the yatras were not merely an anti-drug awareness campaign but an effort to turn the fight against drugs into a mass public movement and protect Punjabiyat, its culture, values and the identity associated with the land of the Gurus.
He said the drug crisis was tearing families apart, particularly causing immense pain to mothers and sisters, while pushing Punjab’s youth towards addiction. The BJP also linked the drug menace to crime, violence and gang-related activities and said families were being forced into debt or to sell land and other assets to meet treatment expenses.
The campaign logo was unveiled in the presence of BJP national vice-president Manpreet Singh Badal, former state president Sunil Jakhar and MLA Ashwani Sharma. State general secretary and yatra in-charge Rajesh Bagha and state media head Vineet Joshi were also present.
Manpreet Badal said the campaign should not be viewed merely through a political lens and that the BJP wanted to turn it into a social movement. He criticised the Punjab government's approach of registering FIRs and arresting drug users, saying greater emphasis was needed on rehabilitation and dismantling the drug supply network.
Badal said the BJP, if voted to power, would set up an anti-drug intelligence grid bringing the Punjab Police, intelligence agencies, rehabilitation experts and social and religious workers onto a common platform. He said the focus should be on following the money trail and breaking the drug network rather than merely catching individual users or drug packets.
Jakhar said the drug menace was also contributing to crime, violence and gang activities and worsening the law-and-order situation. He said the practice of using substitute drugs to wean addicts off addiction had not produced the desired results and stressed the need to provide employment opportunities to Punjab's youth.
Ashwani Sharma described the campaign as a “mahayagya” to clean Punjab and appealed to people across the state to participate and make drug eradication a people's movement.
The first yatra will be flagged off by BJP national president Nitin Nabin on September 18 from Ekta Sthal at Madhopur in Sujanpur, Pathankot. The venue is located near the memorial of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
The first route will pass through Sujanpur, Pathankot, Bhoa, Dina Nagar, Gurdaspur, Qadian, Sri Hargobindpur, Batala, Fatehgarh Churian, Dera Baba Nanak, Ajnala, Raja Sansi, Attari, Amritsar West, Amritsar Central, Amritsar South, Amritsar East, Amritsar North, Majitha, Jandiala, Baba Bakala, Tarn Taran, Khadoor Sahib, Khem Karan, Patti, Ferozepur City, Guru Har Sahai, Ferozepur Rural, Zira, Sultanpur Lodhi, Bholath, Kapurthala, Nakodar, Shahkot and Jalandhar Cantt before concluding at Jalandhar.
The second yatra will begin on September 19 after paying obeisance at Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib. It will cover Samrala, Payal, Khanna, Amloh, Fatehgarh Sahib, Bassi Pathana, Dera Bassi, SAS Nagar, Kharar, Chamkaur Sahib, Ropar, Anandpur Sahib, Garhshankar, Chabbewal, Hoshiarpur, Sham Chaurasi, Dasuya, Mukerian, Urmar, Adampur, Balachaur, Nawanshahr, Banga and Phagwara before reaching Jalandhar.
The third yatra will start on September 20 from the Sadiqi Border at the Asafwala 1971 War Memorial in Fazilka. It will pass through Fazilka, Balluana, Abohar, Jalalabad, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Malout, Gidderbaha, Jaito, Kotkapura, Faridkot, Bagha Purana, Nihal Singh Wala, Dharamkot, Moga, Jagraon, Raikot, Dakha, Malerkotla, Amargadh, Gill and Sahnewal before concluding at Ludhiana Urban.
The fourth yatra will begin on September 21 at Gurdwara Sri Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo. It will pass through Talwandi Sabo, Maur, Rampura Phul, Bhucho Mandi, Bathinda Rural, Bathinda Urban, Mansa, Sardulgarh, Budhlada, Bhadaur, Barnala, Mehal Kalan, Dhuri, Sangrur, Sunam, Dirba, Lehra, Shutrana, Nabha, Patiala Rural, Patiala Urban, Sanaur and Rajpura before concluding in Jalandhar.
The campaign will culminate in Jalandhar on September 30, where Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a rally. BJP leaders will also meet families who have lost members to drug abuse during the campaign.
Dhillon said the BJP's two-year target was achievable, citing the Narendra Modi government's actions against Naxalism and the abrogation of Article 370. He also referred to Amit Shah's stated national target of making India drug-free by 2029.
The BJP's promise comes against the backdrop of similar commitments made by political parties in previous Punjab Assembly elections. Ahead of the 2017 polls, then Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh had vowed, while holding a Gutka Sahib, to “break the backbone” of the drug menace within a month of coming to power. Ahead of the 2022 elections, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had promised to eliminate the menace within six months of forming the government.
The BJP has said its approach would combine enforcement, intelligence gathering, rehabilitation and social mobilisation rather than focus solely on arrests and FIRs. The party is seeking to make the drug menace a major issue ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.