Union Home Minister Amit Shah promised to rid Punjab of synthetic drugs by December 31, 2029, if the BJP wins the 2027 Assembly elections. Shah said, "I promise the mothers and youth of Punjab that if you support the BJP, we will free Punjab from the trade in 'chitta'."
CHANDIGARH: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday promised to rid Punjab of 'chitta' (synthetic drugs) by December 31, 2029, if the BJP is voted to power in the 2027 Assembly elections, making the drug menace a central plank of the party's campaign in the state.
"I promise the mothers and youth of Punjab that if you support the BJP in these elections and vote for the lotus symbol, we will free Punjab from the trade in 'chitta' before December 31, 2029," Shah said.
The BJP's four-pronged yatra, which began on September 18, covered nearly 4,000 km across all 117 Assembly constituencies before culminating in Jalandhar. The party has sought to turn the anti-drug campaign into a major political issue ahead of the 2027 polls.
Shah repeatedly targeted Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the AAP government over the drug issue. Without naming Mann, he said, "Someone who gets intoxicated and insults the Gurus cannot free Punjab from the scourge of drugs."
.
He also told Mann that the people would have forgiven the government if it had succeeded in making Punjab drug-free, but alleged that the drug trade had instead expanded under the AAP government.
Shah appealed particularly to mothers whose children had died or suffered because of drug addiction, saying there would be no supply of 'chitta' to their children by the end of 2029 and that those involved in its sale would be identified and jailed.
The BJP had brought several families affected by drug addiction into its campaign in the run-up to the rally. Shah referred to a mother who had lost two sons to addiction and quoted her as saying: "I couldn't save mine, but save someone else's son."
While issues including farmers, industry, law and order and women's safety would also feature in the election, Shah said the BJP would campaign specifically around the promise of a drug-free Punjab.
"Why has the time come today to make Punjab drug-free? Because the AAP government allowed the trade of 'chitta' to flourish openly," he said.
Shah also cited national drug-seizure figures while highlighting the Centre's Nasha Mukt Bharat campaign. He said 26 lakh kg of narcotics were seized between 2004 and 2014, during the previous Congress-led government, compared with more than 1 crore kg between 2014 and 2024 under the Narendra Modi government. He put the value of seizures at Rs 40,000 crore and Rs 1.9 lakh crore respectively.
The Centre has separately set December 2029 as the target for its broader Nasha Mukt Bharat programme under the 'Vision Document 2026-2029', which includes measures on prevention, enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation.
Shah also invoked the BJP-led government's actions against terrorism, Naxalism and insurgency in arguing that the party had delivered on its commitments.
.
He began his address by paying tribute to Sikh Gurus and prominent figures associated with Punjab, including Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Sardar Teja Singh Samundri, Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh. He also highlighted the contribution of Punjab's farmers to food security and its youth to the country's defence.
Earlier, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vikram Sahney described the anti-drug campaign as historic and said the yatras had taken the party's message to villages, towns and cities across Punjab. He said BJP leaders had met families affected by drug abuse and taken stock of the situation on the ground.
The BJP's anti-drug campaign comes as parties prepare for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, with the drug crisis emerging as a prominent political issue. The AAP and other parties have also traded allegations with the BJP over responsibility for the state's drug problem.