Delhi minister and BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Thursday lashed out at the AAP government in Punjab over its ongoing anti-drugs campaign and asked why it had been "sleeping" for the last three years.
He also slammed the government for deploying a cavalcade of vehicles upon the arrival of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal for his 10-day Vipassana session in Hoshiarpur.
On February 28, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann set a three-month deadline to make Punjab drug-free. On February 27, he set up a five-member sub-committee of cabinet ministers to monitor the ongoing drive against the drug menace in the state.
Addressing the media here, Sirsa said, "I am surprised that for the past three years, this government has been sleeping. Drugs have reached schools. Now they are saying they have strongly attacked the drug problem. Where were you for the past three years?" Drug smugglers and unscrupulous travel agents, who duped many people, have been "ruling the roost" in the AAP regime in the state, he charged.
Mann is concerned about sending a cavalcade of 50 vehicles for Kejriwal in Punjab but is least bothered about taking action against drug smugglers and unscrupulous travel agents, he said.
"I want to ask Mann that where was the JCB machine (being used to demolish properties of drug smugglers) rusting for the past three years," Sirsa said.
He further asked why the AAP only thought of this "zordar vaar" (strong action against drugs) only after losing the Delhi Assembly polls.
"They want to show Arvind Kejriwal as a messiah who fled from Delhi. They want to show that Kejriwal has now arrived in Punjab and work has started and an attack on drugs has commenced. This is the strategy of Kejriwal," said Sirsa.
As part of the government's crackdown on the drug menace, action is also being taken against drug peddlers. In some cases, their properties have been demolished.
Sirsa also accused the previous AAP government in Delhi of "destroying" the national capital in the past 10 years.
He claimed a cavalcade of 50 vehicles with 100 commandos, a fire brigade and an ambulance were deployed for Kejriwal upon his arrival in Hoshiarpur.
Kejriwal reached Hoshiarpur on Tuesday for a 10-day Vipassana session at the Dhamma Dhaja Vipassana Centre (DDVC) in Anandgarh village.
To a question on the ongoing farmers' agitation, Sirsa said their demands should be addressed.
He also condemned the breach of security of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in London. "It is an unfortunate incident," he said.
As Jaishankar was leaving the Chatham House after concluding an interactive session at the institute, home to Royal Institute of International Affairs, on Wednesday evening, a pro-Khalistani protester attempted to break barricades while some others were shouting anti-India slogans.
To a question on the 2027 Punjab Assembly polls, Sirsa said the BJP fought the 2022 assembly polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls alone. "In future also, we will go it alone," he said.
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