Drug menace and underworld-crime are top issues in the upcoming elections in Punjab. AAP has shown no will to root them out, says Congress, but if voted to office, it will finish these off, AICC state in-charge Sachin Pilottells Subodh Ghildiyal. Excerpts:
Where does Congress think the AAP govt has failed in Punjab?
■ The top issue is the menace of drugs. The mafia and bureaucratic nexus is so overwhelming that home delivery of drugs is much quicker than home delivery of food. It’s ‘chitta’. As per NCRB 2024, Punjab had the second highest NDPS Act crime rate at 29 cases per lakh. If AAP govt had the will to finish off the drug menace, it would have done so in 4.5 years. Look at gangsterism, the nexus between people in jail and those operating outside carrying out shootouts, robberies. This had never been the culture of Punjab, even in its darkest hour. You never had homegrown gangs operating in public. Narco money feeds gang operations. Police/intelligence do not have the integrity and the political direction to curb this menace. These twin evils lead to unemployment. In Punjab, there are record Dalit atrocities, unemployment and persistent agrarian crisis. The AAP failure is taking the state downhill.
Congress made you in-charge of Punjab in the context of infighting in the state unit with elections just five months away. And then it also changed its state chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
■Punjab is an important state not just for Congress, but also for the country. Its contribution — historical, political, social — is there for all to see. We are confident that the people of Punjab are looking for a change and Congress will provide that change. There may be different viewpoints, but there are no factions in the Punjab Congress. We are fighting unitedly to oust the AAP govt. Changes in the organisation are routine exercises.
“In Punjab, there are record Dalit atrocities, unemployment and persistent agrarian crisis,” Pilot said.
BJP is also slamming the AAP govt over drug menace.
■Punjab is a border state and all the drugs are coming from across the border which is the responsibility of the Union ministry of home affairs and the defence ministry. So, it is wholly farcical when BJP launches an anti-drug drive in Punjab. What have they done to curb the menace on the borders of Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat. Mundra Port recorded the highest seizure of cocaine in history — Rs 21,000 crore in one consignment in 2021. Imagine how much cocaine would have slipped through unnoticed. BJP has to answer these questions.
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It will be a four-cornered contest between AAP, Congress, BJP and SAD.
■The main contest is between AAP and Congress. Of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in 2024 polls, Congress won seven. BJP has no strong footing in Punjab and has survived on the back of SAD support. But SAD has also split and is facing internal issues. It is not the force like they were under Badal Senior. It will be a bipolar contest over who can lead Punjab better. There will be other players like Amritpal Singh’s party, but people of Punjab don’t give a fractured mandate. Congress played the role of a strong opposition for 4.5 years while others were missing. When in office, Congress has delivered in the past.
Will Congress project a CM face in Punjab?
■ Congress has never given the CM faces. There is a state president, campaign committee chairman, a legislature party leader — a whole lot of people who fight as a team.
