Chandigarh, Feb 10: Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, the Chief Spokesperson for AAP Punjab, has condemned the involvement of traditional political leaders in Governor Gulab Chand Kataria’s anti-drug campaign, calling the alliance “deeply troubling.”
During a media briefing on February 10, Dhaliwal mentioned that the Governor should have scrutinized the history of Punjab’s drug problem before embarking on his march. He noted that the presence of leaders like Sukhbir Singh Badal is an insult to the families who lost children to addiction during the previous regime’s tenure. According to Dhaliwal, the Governor’s decision to include these figures has deeply disappointed the citizens of the state.
“The Governor should have understood who brought the so-called ‘sixth river’ of drugs to the land of five rivers,” Dhaliwal directly said. He noted that the period from 2007 to 2017 saw drugs spread openly across Punjab under the protection of the same leaders who are now participating in the yatra.
The AAP leader mentioned that any campaign involving “political patrons of traffickers” will never receive genuine support from the public. He noted that the AAP government, under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has been leading its own sustained yatras that focus on real, on-ground results rather than symbolic gestures. Dhaliwal mentioned that the Governor’s separate campaign appears to be a reaction to the success of the state government’s initiatives.
Dhaliwal also noted that the moral message of the march is compromised. He mentioned that the people of Punjab are well aware of who has consistently fought against drugs and who has protected those selling them. “The AAP government will continue its campaign with full commitment,” Dhaliwal noted, while adding that the public will reject any movement carried out in collaboration with those who ruined the state’s youth.
