Mann Hits Back at Shah: Gujarat Has Become the Biggest Supplier of Drugsਮਾਨ ਦਾ ਸ਼ਾਹ ਨੂੰ ਜਵਾਬ: ਗੁਜਰਾਤ ਨਸ਼ਿਆਂ ਦਾ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਡਾ ਸਪਲਾਇਰ ਬਣ ਗਿਆ

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, claiming that Gujarat has effectively become the biggest supplier of drugs in the country and rejecting Shah's prediction that the Aam Aadmi Party will be wiped out in Punjab in the 2027 Assembly elections. Speaking to reporters in Chandigarh, Mann said governments are not formed according to the wishes of one leader. The government will be formed according to the wishes of the 3.25 crore people of Punjab, he said, in remarks reported by both IANS and ANI.

What Shah had said

On Thursday, Shah targeted the Punjab government and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, saying the party would be wiped out of the state in the upcoming elections, that the NDA would form the next government, and that it would eradicate Punjab's drug menace by 2029. Shah's comments came during a week in which he visited Punjab, met the families of anti-drug activists who were killed or died after speaking out, and pressed the state to hand more cases to the CBI. A day later, Punjab also delegated preventive detention powers against drug traffickers to senior police officers under the PIT-NDPS Act, a step reported after Shah noted the state had not used that law.

The Gujarat charge

Mann turned the drugs debate toward Gujarat's ports. Drugs are coming from Gujarat, he said, adding that the authorities themselves have admitted seizing drugs worth Rs 20,000 crore there. While drones might cross the border from Pakistan, he asked how large consignments get through ports that have proper customs procedures and security arrangements. If shipments of 3,000 kilograms are arriving at these ports, it means Gujarat has effectively become the biggest supplier today, Mann said. The charge reframes a debate that has usually focused on the Pakistan border and drone drops into Punjab.

Attack on the Akali-BJP years

The Chief Minister also alleged that the biggest drug cartel in Punjab flourished during the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government between 2007 and 2017. Big smugglers had named several senior ministers of that period, he said, and he questioned the BJP now talking about a compromise with the same people. The remark lands in a week when Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party was open to an alliance with anyone except the AAP and the Congress, after Shah pitched an NDA government for Punjab.

On the Assembly protests over Jhota

Asked about the Opposition's protests in the Punjab Assembly over the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, Mann said the Opposition had no other issues and only wanted to create a ruckus. First they say the Assembly is not convened, and when it is convened, they boycott it, he said, adding that a discussion was under way and they should participate in it. The Jhota case, now with the CBI, has dominated the Assembly session, with the activist's family still refusing a post-mortem and Congress MLAs demanding Mann's resignation.

What did Mann say about Gujarat and drugs?

Mann said drugs are coming from Gujarat, that authorities there have admitted seizing drugs worth Rs 20,000 crore, and that 3,000 kg consignments arriving at ports make Gujarat effectively the biggest supplier of drugs in the country.

What had Amit Shah said about Punjab's 2027 polls?

Shah said on Thursday that the AAP would be wiped out in the upcoming Punjab elections, that the NDA would form the government, and that it would eradicate the state's drug menace by 2029.

How did Mann answer Shah's election claim?

Mann said the government will not be formed according to Amit Shah's wishes but according to the wishes of the 3.25 crore people of Punjab, who will decide based on his government's work.