Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann (L) and Governor Banwarilal Purohit (R). (Images: PTI/X)
The Governor had alleged that he had received reports from various agencies regarding the rampant availability and abuse of drugs in Punjab
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on Saturday, took a subtle dig at the threats made by Governor Banwarilal Purohit on the imposition of President’s rule in the state. Replying to the letter sent by Purohit, the CM said that 3.5 crore Punjabis knew how to fight back when ‘suppressed’.
Mann claimed that he had already replied to nine out of 16 questions raised by the Governor and the remaining questions were being followed up.
Purohit had threatened action under section 365 of the constitution against Mann alleging a “breaking down of law and order situation in Punjab” and asked him to immediately send a report concerning the action taken by the CM on the rampant drug trade issue.
The chief minister presented the data at a conference and said that the state had taken big action on the fronts of catching the drug trades and also in maintaining the law and order situation in the state. Mann said he was not replying as a CM but as a common Punjabi and on behalf of the 3.5 crore Punjabis.
“We fought for our freedom. We defended the borders of our country and fed the country with the Green Revolution. We stand with our country on all issues of national interest however I want to say that we know how to fight when suppressed and history has shown it,” said Mann.
The Governor alleged that he had received reports from various agencies concerning the pervasive availability and abuse of drugs in Punjab.
“It is common knowledge that they are available in chemist shops. A new trend is observed that they are being sold in government-run liquor shops. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Chandigarh Police recently sealed 66 liquor shops in Ludhiana which were selling drugs,” the Governor said.
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa also posted on X that deaths due to drug overdose in Punjab have become the new normal under the Aam Aadmi Party government. He said that the people of Punjab are fed up with the “blatant lies” of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann about ending the drug menace.
Drug overdose deaths have become a new normal in Punjab under the @AAPPunjab govt.The people of Punjab have been fed up with the blatant lies of Punjab CM @BhagwantMann about ending the drug menace.The reality is that the Punjab government has no roadmap to keep a check on…— Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) August 25, 2023
A recent report from the Parliamentary Standing Committee said that one in five persons is exposed to or addicted to drugs, the governor noted.
“These facts point out the breaking down of the law and order system in Punjab so much so that now villagers have started protesting on the streets in large numbers and have decided to set up their own village defence committees to protect themselves from drugs,” he added.
The two have been at loggerheads over various issues. The governor has been shooting off letters to the CM and in return, Mann has been accusing the BJP-ruled centre of misusing the Governor’s office.
