‘BJP to go solo’: Working president rules out alliances for 117 Punjab seats

Bathinda: Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma on Tuesday reiterated that the party would contest independently in all 117 assembly seats, dismissing ongoing rumors regarding a tie-up with any political party for the upcoming state elections.Referring to his presence alongside SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal during a padyatra led by the Punjab governor against drug abuse in Ferozepur on Tuesday, Sharma said the governor had invited several political leaders to join the march and spread awareness. "Ministers, MPs, and MLAs from the ruling party were also invited. As a concerned citizen of Punjab, I participated, and no politics should be seen in it. Some people tried to politicise the issue, but I went for a pious cause. No political meaning should be drawn, and there is no basis for such rumours," he said.While speaking to mediapersons in Bathinda on Wednesday, Sharma said, Sharma said, "The Aam Aadmi Party govt in Punjab came to power with the promise of making the state drug-free within a month. However, over the past four years, chief minister Bhagwant Mann has given six deadlines to eliminate drugs, but the situation has worsened. Drugs are being sold openly in villages and cities, and even inside jails. The ground reality is that youth are dying daily due to drug abuse, signboards claiming ‘Chitta available here' are being put up, and drugs are being delivered to homes."He claimed that during the Mann govt's 46-month tenure, data on around 1,600 youth deaths was available, but the actual number of drug-related deaths ranged between 15,000 and 16,000. Many families, he said, do not report such deaths due to social stigma, while police often avoid registering FIRs; as a result, only about one-tenth of the cases come to light.Sharma said the drug problem in Punjab had become so severe that not only young men but also children aged 10–12, girls, and even pregnant women were falling prey to it. Drug addicts were killing their own family members for drugs, and even cases of killing infants surfaced, he said, adding that in one case, a mother lost her six sons to drugs. He asked why this ‘Udta Punjab' is not visible to the chief minister.The morale of drug smugglers is so high that they not only attack those who oppose drugs but also fire at their houses and kill their family members. In many cases, smugglers are not afraid of attacking or even killing police personnel, he said. MSID:: 128208634 413 |