New Delhi/Chandigarh: In a clear indication of the widening rift between the BJP and its Akali Dal ally, the latter held “awareness” rallies across Punjab against the drug menace, and blamed the Border Security Force for not being able to control the racket in the state.
Alleging there is a “big conspiracy” to malign the Punjabi community, the Akalis also asked the Centre to “prohibit” states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh from “cultivating narcotics” in order to eliminate drug abuse. Incidentally, the two states are now ruled by the BJP.
The BJP is raking up the drug menace in a big way, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised it in his radio address “Mann Ki Baat”, that rankled its ally, which heads the coalition government in Punjab.
Amid speculation that the allies are on the verge of parting ways, BJP president Amit Shah is due to start his party’s campaign against drugs in the state on January 22 from Amritsar.
The BSF, meanwhile, claimed the Punjab government had given it a clean chit, and that a study has shown it had seized, year after year, the highest quantity of heroin among all law-enforcement agencies, including the Punjab police.
