Drug menace row rocks AAP in Punjab: 20 party leaders resign, question Bhagwant Mann govt

PTC Web Desk: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab is facing an uncomfortable moment. A wave of resignations from its own ranks, linked to the drug problem in the state, has put the Bhagwant Mann government under fresh pressure.

Ranjit Singh, a district vice-president of AAP’s 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' (war against drugs) campaign, addressed a press conference and said that nearly 20 party leaders have now stepped down. He accused the state government of shielding those behind the drug trade.

'People keep asking us where the party was'

Ranjit Singh said the questions from ordinary people had become hard to answer. When he and his colleagues go among villagers, he said, they are asked where AAP was when anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was killed  and why the complaints Jhota had filed with the police were never acted on.

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Appeals to the high command went unanswered

The leaders also said they had worked closely with villagers on the drug issue and had asked the party’s high command to hold a meeting with them and draw up an effective policy. They claim they never received a reply.

Earlier resignations

Three resignations had already come to light before this. These included Ranjit Singh himself and Goldy Brass.

Notably, since the death of anti-drug activist Jhota, the party has been dealing with one trouble after another. Anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was shot dead in broad daylight on October 13 at a chemist shop in Mansa, allegedly by the shop owner, after he went there to object to alleged drug sales. The killing has set off a political storm and the Bhagwant Mann government is on the defensive. 

Opposition parties accused the government of 'jungle raj' and said the murder showed a deteriorating law and order situation. Congress leader Sachin Pilot said the Mann government had lost the moral authority to govern. 

Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh alleged that the police and the government protect drug peddlers. He also claimed that years earlier, the police gave the same shopkeeper a revolver licence and jailed Jhota for three months. 

Former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi alleged that Jhota had been harassed repeatedly with false cases meant to stop his anti-drug work. 

READ IN PUNJABI | AAP ਪੰਜਾਬ 'ਚ ਅਸਤੀਫਿਆਂ ਦੀ ਲੱਗੀ ਝੜੀ, 20 ਆਗੂਆਂ ਨੇ ਛੱਡੀ ਪਾਰਟੀ