Rift widens between SAD and BJP

The gulf between the two alliance partners — Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — over the drug issue in Punjab widened further on Friday with the leaders of the saffron brigade announcing to intensify the drive against drug in rural areas of the State.The Joshi Foundation, an NGO headed by BJP leader and Assistant Media Advisor to Punjab Government Vineet Joshi, has, since December 2014, taken an initiative to spread awareness among the public across the State — something which is making the SAD camp uncomfortable.

Under the umbrella of Joshi Foundation, Vineet Joshi, with the cooperation of Union Minister and Hoshiarpur MP Vijay Sampla and Rajya Sabha MP and party’s national vice-president Avinash Rai Khanna, has been organising anti-drugs awareness camps in various parts of the state coupled with round table conferences. 

“Considering the growing menace of drug addiction in Punjab since 2012, Joshi Foundation has taken this initiative to spread awareness among people…The Joshi Foundation has observed International Anti-Drugs Day on June 26 for the first time in Punjab to make the general public aware of it,” said Sampla, who addressed a joint conference along with Joshi on Friday.

They maintained that in addition to the existing 42 drug de-addiction centres in the state, 26 Central Government sponsored drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres would also be established.Joshi was rewarded with the post of Assistant Media Advisor about two years ago having the rank equivalent to Chief Parliamentary Secretary. As part of his campaign under Joshi Foundation, Joshi claimed to have organised 17 State-level programmes, including a march against drugs in Jallianwala Bagh and 14 roundtable conferences which involved discussions on the drug menace.

The bitterness in the relationship between the two allies was evident during the recent state-level function on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which was attended by the BJP’s Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot.

Addressing a joint press conference, Gehlot had stated that Punjab was ranked number one in the country in consumption of drugs as per different surveys. Intervening, Badals had wasted no time to condemned Gehlot’s statement by terming the surveys as “redundant”.“The surveys mentioned by Gehlot are old and were done five to six years ago. Everybody is targeting Punjab but nobody understands the real problem. Nobody is bothered from where the drugs are flowing into Punjab. They are coming from outside states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh,” Badal had stated.

Also, the BJP’s state unit had organised rallies, marathons, and campaigns on June 26 across the State In fact, it had also targeted the SAD for the alleged involvement of its leaders in the multi-crore drug case, and even demanded the resignation of its Minister Bikram Singh Majithia and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Avinash Chander.