A promise to end Punjab’s drug addiction helped the Congress win the 2017 assembly polls. Five years later, the state remains a slave to the menace
The Congress had stormed to power in Punjab in March 2017 by winning 77 of the total 117 assembly constituencies after promising to end the drug menace within four weeks of taking charge. But, five years down the line, enforcement agencies have recovered drugs worth more than ₹278 crore in the state within just 26 days after the Election Commission on January 8 announced the assembly polls.
On December 15, 2015, former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh formally took over as Punjab Congress president at a rally in Bathinda and swore by holding the Gutka Sahib (Sikh holy book) in his hand and by Takht Damdama Sahib to promise: “Chaar hafteyan ch nashe da lakk tod ke chhadun (I will break the backbone of drugs within four weeks).”
On December 15, 2015, former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh formally took over as Punjab Congress president at a rally in Bathinda and swore by holding the Gutka Sahib (Sikh holy book) in his hand and by Takht Damdama Sahib to promise: “Chaar hafteyan ch nashe da lakk tod ke chhadun (I will break the backbone of drugs within four weeks).”