Union Home Minister Amit Shah has claimed that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will form the next government in Punjab, targeting the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over drug trafficking and its political approach.
Addressing an event in Delhi on Tuesday, Shah said people in Punjab wanted an NDA government and claimed that the AAP would be defeated in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Targeting AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Shah said the party's “politics of excuse” would not help it in Punjab, and he also asserted that drug trafficking in the state would be brought to an end after the formation of an NDA government.
Shah's remarks come as the BJP seeks to expand its political presence in Punjab, where the AAP came to power with a decisive victory in the 2022 Assembly elections.
During the event, Shah inaugurated projects worth Rs 8,941 crore aimed at cleaning the Yamuna river in Delhi. He said the BJP would seek people's support in 2029 after rejuvenating the river.
Shah also criticised the Congress and AAP over their allegations of electronic voting machine (EVM) tampering and vote theft, and he argued that these parties had remained out of power in several states for decades despite raising such allegations.
Blaming previous Congress and AAP governments in Delhi for allowing sewage to flow into the Yamuna, Shah claimed that the BJP government had reduced the discharge of untreated sewage into the river.
His address combined the announcement of river-cleaning projects in Delhi with a political attack on the Opposition and a claim that the NDA would return to power in Punjab.
Shah's statement on Punjab signals the BJP-led alliance's focus on the state ahead of the next Assembly elections, with drug trafficking emerging as one of the key issues raised in his remarks.