Hoping to make a mark on its own in Punjab, the BJP has chosen the drug-abuse crisis as a primary issue for the 2027 assembly elections due in about six months, with the party announcing a statewide ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’ on four routes that will cover all 117 constituencies.
Gulzar died by suicide, and his family has alleged that he faced harassment after raising the issue. Police have registered a case against some local people, while a special probe team has been formed. Cheema has denied any involvement. The second flashpoint on the same issue is the case of Mohanjeet Singh Sheron, an activist who alleged that he was tortured by police after displaying a black flag and raising questions over the government’s handling of drugs during Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s public interaction. The allegations triggered political criticism and action against police personnel, giving the Opposition another example to question the government’s handling of those raising their voice against drugs. The controversies have provided the BJP with a fresh opportunity to question the Bhagwant Mann-led government’s claims of controlling the drug menace. The party is seeking to project the issue not merely as a law-and-order problem, but as evidence of a wider governance failure. The Congress, which is the main Opposition party in the state, and the Shiromani Akali Dal, which has been a BJP ally in the past, have also been raising the issue. Those parties’ past of having led Punjab’s successive governments comes as baggage. Against this backdrop, the BJP, which at best has been a junior partner in SAD-led governments, is positioning its four-pronged yatra as a mass contact campaign.
The BJP’s focused offensive comes amid renewed public and political anger over the death of Sangrur resident Gulzar Singh, who had publicly questioned AAP leader and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema over the availability of “chitta” (heroin or other synthetic drugs). The party says the objective is to take the anti-drug message to every constituency while highlighting two other issues: law and order, and corruption. Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon has said the campaign is not merely an awareness drive. The party wants to connect the drug issue with “Punjabiyat” (culture), youth, families, crime and governance, while directly challenging the AAP government to explain why the problem continues despite its repeated claims of a crackdown.
