Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal on Monday said that Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh was acting like an “arrogant Raja” who could do no wrong by refusing cooperation from any political party to fight the scourge of drugs even as his failure to take action himself was leading the state into an abyss.
“I have observed restraint since past one week and tried to goad you to wake up from your slumber and take affirmative action. Instead of doing that, you have tried to deflect attention from your government’s abject failure by coming up with stunts like dope tests,” said Sukhbir.
He added, “You have even offered to subject yourself to a dope test little understanding what message it will send to Punjabis worldwide — that even you are suspect. You have, in the process, exposed our sisters and mothers by indulging in such gimmicks, little realizing that the real culprits will go scot free in the process.”
Reasoning with the Chief Minister that he should not point fingers at those who were trying to help Punjab and Punjabis, Sukhbir said that Capt Amarinder should instead reflect how the present sorry state of affairs came about.
“It is your party president Rahul Gandhi who gave a false statement that 70 per cent of Punjabi youth are drug addicts. Instead of correcting this impression keeping in view the welfare of the State, you put your stamp of approval on it and tom-tommed it even further,” he said asking why Capt Amarinder indulged in political opportunism at that time instead of offering cooperation to the then SAD-BJP government to jointly fight the menace.
Reminding Capt Amarinder that he had sworn on the holy ‘gutka’ to eradicate drugs from Punjab within four weeks of assuming power, Sukhbir said: “It is amply clear that you failed to keep this promise. Now when the SAD has offered to help you in this task, you are treating the offer with arrogance instead of seriousness it deserves.”
“I did not want to show you the mirror but the truth is that your own legislators Surjit Singh Dhiman and recently former minister Rana Gurjit Singh have been warning you continuously about the increase in drug incidence. Convictions under NDPS Act have gone down with more than 900 acquittals taking place during last six months. The police department is under a cloud. Your own Pradesh Congress president has admitted that one tainted police officer is replacing the other. There seems to be no political will from your side to end this scourge. This is why the offer of help was extended,” he said.
Asking Capt Amarinder to stop passing the buck now, he said that the people expect the Chief Minister to take concrete action at the ground level and deliver results.
Asserting that the SAD-BJP never denied drugs problem, he said that the combine had launched war on drugs and established drug de-addiction centres.