Bajwa attacks Shah over claim to make Punjab ‘drug-free’

Chandigarh: Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Saturday strongly rebutted the claims made by Union home minister Amit Shah during his rally in Moga, and accused the BJP-led Union govt of misleading the people of Punjab, while failing on key issues concerning the state.

Bajwa said Amit Shah's claim that the BJP would make Punjab drug-free within 2 years was nothing but a hollow political slogan meant to deceive the people. He pointed out that Punjab shares an international border of over 500 kilometres, and the jurisdiction up to 50 kilometres inside the state is under the Border Security Force (BSF), which functions directly under the Union home ministry headed by Shah himself.




"If the border security apparatus is completely under the control of the Union home ministry, then Amit Shah must answer why drugs and arms continue to pour into Punjab. Before preaching to Punjab, the home minister must first explain his own govt's failure to secure the border," Bajwa said. Reacting sharply to Shah's allegation that the Congress signed an agreement with the World Trade Organization (WTO) to end the Minimum Support Price (MSP), Bajwa termed the statement a white lie and politically motivated. "Instead of making false allegations from political stages, Amit Shah should present documentary proof. False propaganda cannot hide the BJP's anti-farmer policies," he said.

Bajwa further reminded the BJP leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise to double farmers' income by 2022, which remains completely unfulfilled. "The BJP govt failed miserably on its own promise to farmers. Now they conveniently shifted the goalposts and started talking about 2047. This only exposes the BJP's habit of making grand promises and abandoning them without accountability," Bajwa said.

Taking strong exception to remarks by Amit Shah and Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar advocating a "double-engine govt" in Punjab, Bajwa said such statements reflect the BJP's dangerous mindset of undermining India's federal democratic structure.

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