Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will once again lead the party from the front in Punjab. The Gandhi Scion will lead the party’s protest sit-in on June 13 at Jalandhar against the scourge of drugs and deteriorating law and order in Punjab.
The dharna at Jalandhar comes amid a raging row over the drugs abuse depicted in the upcoming Bollywood movie Udta Punjab.
Rahul was earlier criticised by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal leadership for saying that over 70 per cent of Punjab residents were consuming drugs.
“Rahul has been consistently raising the issue of drugs in Punjab. When he raised the issue in Punjab in 2012, the Akalis accused him of maligning the Punjabi youth. The situation has now gone from bad to worse as the Akalis never bothered to tackle the problem,” said Congress MlA Rana Gurjeet Singh.
He said: “The eradication of drugs from Punjab is top priority for the Congress and the protest event will be held in that context only.”
Kapurthala MlA, who is in charge of the programme, said on the request of the Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh, Rahul agreed to participate in the dharna against the drugs and deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab.
He said that besides Rahul, all senior party leaders from the state and workers will participate in the dharna.