Punjab will be ‘chitta-mukt (drug-free)’ by December 31, 2029: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah with drug-affected families in Jalandhar on Wednesday. (Express photo)

Setting a deadline for one of the BJP’s biggest political promises in Punjab, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Wednesday said the state would be made “chitta-mukt” by December 31, 2029. He also assured mothers and youth that after that date, chitta would neither be sold in Punjab nor be allowed to leave the state.

Addressing the concluding rally of the BJP’s 13-day ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’ in Jalandhar, Shah said there were several issues before Punjab, including farming, women’s security, industry and employment, but added that the party intends to make “chitta-mukt Punjab” its main poll issue for campaigning for the 2027 Assembly election.

However, the ruling AAP hit back at the BJP and asked Shah to explain the seizure of 526 kg of heroin and methamphetamine worth over Rs 3,000 crore in an operation involving the Gujarat ATS and Indian Coast Guard.

“Amit Shah came to Punjab today to give lectures on drugs. At the same time, 526 kg of heroin and methamphetamine worth over Rs 3,000 crore has been seized in an operation in which Gujarat ATS provided the intelligence. We have been saying that Gujarat has emerged as a major gateway for drugs in the country. This seizure once again shows the scale of the problem. If Amit Shah is serious about Nasha Mukt Bharat, he should start his Nasha Mukt Yatra from Gujarat, not Punjab,” the AAP said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Shah, assuring the state’s mothers, said, “I have come to tell the mothers of Punjab that on December 31, 2029, there will be no one left to make Chitta available to your children. This is the BJP’s promise,” he said, adding that those selling chitta would be identified and put behind bars.

“We will not allow even one gram of drug to be sold in Punjab, nor will we allow it to go to other parts,” he said, asserting that the BJP could achieve this with the votes of the people of Punjab. “There are several issues in Punjab, but this election will be fought on making Punjab chitta-mukt,” Shah said, as he appealed to the people of Punjab to vote for BJP and give the BJP an opportunity to deliver on the promise.

Shah said that after his promise, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal would say something, but made it clear that the BJP could deliver on its Punjab promise as it had done elsewhere.

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“I know what they ask. But I assure you, whatever we have said, we have done. “We have done it in Kashmir, we have done it against Naxalism and terrorism in the Northeast. Now it is the turn of Chitta-mukt Punjab,” Shah said.

He said people had seen the Congress, AAP and others (without naming BJP’s former ally SAD) and now should give the BJP a single chance to make Punjab chitta-mukt. Shah said that the Bhagwant Mann government had allowed the drug trade to grow and asked whether those associated with the Delhi liquor case could make Punjab chitta-mukt.