Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab leader and Cabinet Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal on Wednesday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the recent incident in Dirba, pointing out that the Congress and other opposition parties of indulging in politics over a tragic incident instead of understanding the sentiments of the affected family and local people.
Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s social media post, Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said, “Rahul Gandhi, you have spoken about drugs and action against drugs, but I want to remind you that if any government has taken decisive action against drugs in Punjab, it is the CM Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government. Your party came to power in 2017 promising to eradicate drugs within four weeks. You had five years in government, what did you do during those five years?” he asked.
The Minister said the Bhagwant Mann government had launched an unprecedented, war-level campaign against drugs and that tangible results were now visible. He questioned why the opposition is choosing to politicise a tragic incident when it had no substantive issues left to raise against the government. “Earlier, you did politics in the name of religion and caste. Now, when those issues have failed, you have started doing politics over dead bodies. This is not the culture of Punjab,” he said.
Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said the affected family had taken the decision to conduct the last rites of Gulzar Singh according to its own wishes, yet opposition leaders reached the spot and attempted to turn the situation into a political issue. He said that local people themselves opposed the presence of political leaders and asked them to leave. “People made it clear that their own committee had been formed and that they would handle the matter themselves,” he said.
The Minister further said that the drug menace in Punjab is the legacy of previous Congress and Akali-BJP governments, while the present AAP government was working to dismantle the drug network. “Rahul Gandhi, come to Punjab. Come to that village and see the situation yourself. Talk to the people and understand what they want and what they are saying. Sitting in Delhi and making statements does not reflect the ground reality,” he said.
Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal added, “Whenever even a small unfortunate incident takes place in Punjab, leaders of all opposition parties rush there. They have no other issue left. But the people of Punjab do not appreciate this kind of politics. Punjab believes in living together, maintaining harmony and Sarbat da Bhala,”
Barinder Kumar Goyal reiterated that neither any AAP minister nor any MLA had any connection with the incident and urged the opposition to refrain from what he termed “dirty politics”.