HighLights
  1. BJP to launch 'Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra' statewide from September 18.
  2. Families of drug victims recounted tragic losses at Chandigarh press conference.
  3. Yatra will cover all 117 Assembly constituencies, focusing on drug issues.

Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra: The Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Thursday addressed a press conference in Chandigarh on the rising drug menace in the state and announced the launch of a statewide 'Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra' from September 18.

The saffron party invited family members who lost their kin due to the drug menace in the state to the Punjab BJP office. Thirty chairs were kept empty at the event to express solidarity with the victims. Each empty chair was pinned with a drug victim's name, reported NDTV.

Families at the press conference recounted losing their young children and loved ones to substance abuse, urging immediate, strict administrative intervention against drug trafficking networks.

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'Stain On The Reputation Of Punjab'

BJP leader Sunil Jakhar says, "I have brought two families with me, one from Abohar that arrived on September 13th and another on September 14th. Both families had raised their voices against the drug menace, and they had to pay a heavy price, losing their children. Previously, it was the drug users who died; now, those who speak out against drugs are the ones losing their lives. I consider it a stain on the reputation of Punjab and the Punjab government.

Targeting the Bhagwant Mann government, Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon said its promise of a drug-free Punjab has gone nowhere.

Punjab BJP's Mega Anti-Drug Yatra Ahead Of Polls

With the anti-drug event at the BJP office, the opposition party set the tone of the anti-drug yatra which is sceduled to commence from September 18 in Punjab with Union Home Minister Amit Shah likely to attend its culmination on September 30 as the saffron party gears up for the 2027 Punjab Assembly polls.

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The yatra is proposed to be launched from four locations, with party president Nitin Nabin also expected to be part of it, sources said. However, the detailed programme of the anti-drug yatra is yet to be finalised.

The first yatra will commence from the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Ekta Sthal memorial near Madhopur in Pathankot, while the second yatra will set off from Fatehgarh Sahib, which is associated with martyrdom of the younger Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh. The third yatra will commence from the Veer Bhoomi memorial in Fazilka, which is associated with hand-to-hand combat between Indian and Pakistani troops during the 1971 war and the fourth yatra will be from Takht Damdama Sahib in Bathinda.

Anti-Drug Yatra To Cover All Assembly Constituencies

The yatra, which will cover all 117 Assembly constituencies, will be focused on the drug menace and law and order issue, they said. A senior Punjab BJP leader said that during the yatra, interactions will be held with the families of drug victims and also those persons who have engaged themselves in anti-drug drives. With this yatra, the BJP plans to build its poll campaign over the issues of the drug menace and alleged deteriorating law and order ahead of the polls, which are due early next year.

(With PTI inputs)


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