Amit Shah Demands Answers Over Punjab Drug Crisis

Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticized the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government on Friday, citing rising threats from drugs, gangsterism, and organized crime in Punjab. Shah announced that the Union Home Ministry of India will seek official responses regarding the October 13 murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhotta in Mansa and the suicide of a father in Dirba who allegedly consumed poison under pressure.

Shah demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann provide results and decisive strikes against drug networks rather than promises. This pressure coincided with demands from Pargat Singh, a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, who called for a High Court-supervised investigation into the drug crisis. Singh accused the ruling party of remaining a spectator while traffickers benefit from alleged political and police patronage, citing weapon attacks in Sri Hargobindpur Sahib and a drug-related death in Ludhiana.

In response, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of colluding with a "Chitta Party" to spread drugs in Punjab between 2007 and 2017. Kejriwal alleged the BJP seeks to return to power to profit from the drug trade and claimed the party provided protection to gangsters in Sabarmati jail. Meanwhile, the BJP has pledged to completely eliminate the state's drug trade by December 31, 2029.