BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Friday launched the party’s ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’ from Pathankot, saying the campaign aims to take Punjab away from its association with drugs and towards development and progress.
Addressing the gathering in Pathankot, Nabin said the BJP wants to give Punjab an identity of “Rising Punjab” or “Ubharta Punjab”, instead of “Udta Punjab”, a phrase associated with the state’s drug problem and he said Punjab has historically been a leading state in different sectors and that the drug issue affects families across the state.
The BJP leader also launched an anti-drug helpline number, 97149-02027, and unveiled a poster for a drug-free Punjab.
Nabin said the campaign was not merely being launched as a political programme, but as a new effort against drug abuse in the state and said the issue had caused suffering in many households and referred to the example of a mother who, according to him, lost five sons to drugs. He also said the BJP would work to dismantle the drug mafia.
The BJP president recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anti-drug appeal made on August 2 and said the campaign against drugs needed to reach every part of Punjab because the state’s youth and future were at stake.
Nabin further said BJP workers follow through on the pledges made by the party and cited the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and action against terrorism and Naxalism as examples of commitments that the BJP says it has fulfilled.
He also called for collective responsibility in tackling drug abuse and according to Nabin, while soldiers protect the country’s borders, society and people in Punjab have a responsibility to protect young people from drugs at the community and household level.
During his address, Nabin also referred to an alleged attack on a BJP leader travelling to the event and he said BJP workers should not be considered weak and stated that the party workers were prepared to continue their campaign despite such incidents.
The BJP’s ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’ will run for 13 days and comprise four separate yatras, together, they are scheduled to cover around 4,000 kilometres and reach all 117 Assembly constituencies of Punjab. The campaign will conclude in Jalandhar on September 30, where Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to address the concluding rally. The first yatra was flagged off from Ekta Sthal at Madhopur in Pathankot district on September 18 and it will pass through constituencies across Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar before reaching the concluding point.
The third yatra will start from Fazilka’s Sadiqi border on September 20 and cover areas including Fazilka, Balluana, Abohar, Jalalabad, Sri Muktsar Sahib and Malout.
The fourth yatra will begin from Talwandi Sabo on September 21 and all four routes will eventually converge in Jalandhar for the September 30 concluding programme.
The BJP had earlier described the campaign as an effort to build a mass movement against drug abuse and the party has also said that the campaign will focus on the wider drug problem and its impact on Punjab.
With the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections approaching, the statewide yatra marks a major BJP outreach campaign centred on the drug issue, with the party taking its message through all 117 Assembly constituencies before the final rally in Jalandhar.
