The activists of Punjab BJP’s youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), on Monday faced tear gas shells and water cannons when they tried to lay siege to the official residence of the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in Chandigarh over his alleged failure to curb drug menace in the state
Leaders and several activists of BJYM were also detained by the police.
Protesters, led by BJYM’s Punjab chief Bhanu Pratap Rana, raised slogans against the Congress-led dispensation and alleged that the Chief Minister had “failed” to wipe out drug menace from Punjab.
The Chandigarh Police had deployed police personnel and put up barricades to prevent the BJYM activists from heading towards the Chief Minister's residence. But when the protesters tried to force their way through the barricades, police used water cannons to disperse them at Sector 17 here. Police also used teargas shells to stop the protesters.
Earlier, talking to the mediapersons, Rana slammed Capt Amarinder Singh-led Government in Punjab for not being able to curb the drug trade in the state.
He said that before coming to power in 2017, Capt Amarinder had promised to wipe out drug menace from the state. But he has completely “failed” in doing so, and in fact, drug trade has “flourished in the state”, Rana claimed.
Punjab BJP’s general secretary Subhash Sharma, who was also leading the gathering, accused Capt Amarinder for rampant prevalence of drugs in the state. “The drug trade has been flourishing in the state for the last four and half years and here is a man who had promised the electorate that he would wipe out drugs from the state. But unfortunately, the state’s youth are succumbing to this heinous peddling of drugs and the police is a mute spectator,” he said.
Sharma said that the Chief Minister, on the other hand, is busy giving clean chits to fellow party colleagues who are directly or indirectly involved in the drug and liquor business.