Punjab News:BJP Should Join Punjab’s ‘Yudh Nashean Virudh’ Instead Of Launching Separate Yatras: Baltej Pannu

60,239 Cases Registered, 77,509 Persons Booked In Punjab’s ‘Yudh Nashean Virudh’ Since March 2025: Baltej Pannu

BJP Trying To Undermine Punjab’s War On Drugs As It Showing Results: Baltej Pannu

BJP Should Answer For ‘Chitta’ Flooding Punjab During 2007-17 Akali-BJP Rule, Pushing Generations Of Punjab’s Youth Into Drug Trap: Baltej Pannu

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab State General Secretary (Organisation) and Chief Spokesperson of the Nasha Mukti Morcha Baltej Pannu on Wednesday hit out at the BJP over its proposed anti-drug yatras, saying the party should join Punjab’s ongoing ‘Yudh Nashean Virudh’ instead of launching a separate political campaign. Baltej Pannu said that the massive enforcement drive, under which 60,239 cases have been registered and 77,509 persons booked since March 2025, reflects the scale of Punjab’s fight against drugs, and pointed out the BJP is trying to undermine the campaign as it begins to show results.

The AAP Punjab General Secretary Organisation said the BJP must also answer for the ‘chitta’ menace that flooded Punjab during the 2007-17 Akali-BJP rule and pushed generations of the state’s youth into the drug trap, instead of now attempting to make the issue a political plank.

Reacting to the BJP’s proposed statewide anti-drug yatras from September 18 to 30, AAP Punjab General Secretary Organisation Baltej Pannu said, “Punjab has already been fighting a sustained, people-driven war against drugs for the past 1.6 years and that the scale of action undertaken by the AAP government demonstrates the seriousness of the Punjab’s war on drugs.”

He said that the BJP’s decision to launch a separate campaign, instead of strengthening the ongoing people-led fight against drugs, shows that the party is more interested in creating a parallel political narrative. “BJP should join our Yudh Nashean Virudh. We have done very big work in the last one-and-a-half years. Such a large-scale effort has not happened in any state or country because we are fighting this war by taking people along with us,” Baltej Pannu asserted.

“BJP has started its own campaign because it feels that we are succeeding in this fight, and therefore it wants to torpedo our work,” he said.

Citing official numbers, Baltej Pannu said the scale of the ongoing ‘Yudh Nashean Virudh’ reflects in the latest figures, as 60,239 cases had been registered and 77,509 persons booked between March 1, 2025 and September 8, 2026.

He said, “The enforcement drive had also resulted in the recovery of 3,821.105 kg heroin, 971.670 kg opium, 45,209.509 kg poppy husk/green plants, 1,329.192 kg ganja, 129.533 kg charas, 72.224 kg ice and 4.646 kg cocaine, besides 62,61,754 tablets/capsules, 4,241 injections and ₹22.03 crore in drug money, during the period.”

Baltej Pannu also reminded the BJP that it was a partner in the Akali-BJP government that ruled Punjab from 2007 to 2017, the decade in which, he said, Punjab’s youth were plagued by the drug menace and the state’s young generation was pushed towards the deadly trap of ‘chitta’. He said ‘chitta’ became synonymous with Punjab’s drug crisis during the SAD-BJP rule, while allegations of political patronage of the drug trade and a nexus between drug smugglers, sections of the police and political actors repeatedly surfaced.

Baltej Pannu said, “The BJP should therefore first answer for the damage inflicted on Punjab’s youth during its decade in government with the Akalis, before attempting to make drugs an electoral issue today.”

“If the BJP genuinely wants to fight drugs, it should join Punjab’s Yudh Nashean Virudh and work with the people of Punjab in this battle, rather than trying to undermine an ongoing campaign,” Baltej Pannu said.