Amarinder Singh failed to curb drug menace in Punjab: Harsimrat

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal Monday alleged that the two years of Congress government in Punjab saw the "highest drug related-deaths" and accused Chief Minister Amarinder Singh of diverting people's attention from his government's "failure" in curbing it. The three-time MP took on Singh a day after the chief minister wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a national policy to tackle drug menace.

In his letter to the prime minister, Singh had also urged him to advise the ministries of Home, Social Justice and Empowerment and Health and Family Welfare to address this important issue. On Monday, Badal tweeted, "Instead of diverting attn from ur (Amarinder) failure to fulfil oath taken in name of Guru Gobind Singh ji to wipe out drugs in 4 weeks by writing to PM, u Amarinder should fulfil ur oath. 2yrs of our govt has seen all-time high drug-deaths & ur own MLAs r blaming police-political nexus (sic)."

The chief minister has sought Modi's personal intervention in the formulation of a national policy on three components — enforcement, de-addiction and prevention of drug abuse in the country. The Akali Dal has been targeting Singh for his poll promise of wiping out the drug menace in Punjab within four weeks of coming to power. Amarinder Singh, however, has claimed that his government has broken the back of drug trade in the state.