Ban opium, poppy husk sale in BJP-ruled Raj, MP: Sukhbir to PM

CHANDIGARH: In what appears to be a next in the series of showdowns between allies SAD and BJP, Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal on Tuesday asked PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Rajnath Singh to ban sale of opium and poppy husk in BJP-ruled Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to tackle drug abuse in his state.
His remarks came less than two days after Modi had made a pointed reference in his Sunday's radio programme "Mann Ki Baat" to mothers in Punjab sharing with him their grief about rampant substance abuse among the children.
"There should be a complete ban on legal cultivation and sale of opium and poppy husk in BJP-ruled states as drug peddlers smuggle these narcotics to Punjab and other states," Sukhbir told reporters in Chandigarh.
Replying to a query on Modi's radio speech , Badal junior also asked the PM to "check cross-border narco terrorism".
"I am going to take up the issue with the PM and home minister. Punjab is being used as a transit route by drug peddlers. They must press the BSF to stop illegal flow of drugs from across the border," he said.
BJP, however, hit back at SAD, saying they must first ask their sitting MLAs, summoned by the central agencies in the Rs 6,000-crore synthetic drugs scam, to step down.
"We all should welcome the steps taken by the PM. BJP has already started its campaign against drugs and the PM's speech will boost our mass campaign. The government must first ask its MLA Avinash Chander to step down," said BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh.
Chander, along with former SAD jails minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur, had been recently summoned by the Enforcement Directorate officials in Jalandhar for investigation into the drug trade allegations.
BJP said that SAD must not make random statements on the role of neighbouring states.
"One cannot make such random statements that legal sale of drugs in other states is responsible for drug rise in Punjab. They must have some police records on the arrest of people from Rajasthan or MP or recovery of drugs," said BJP national secretary R P Singh.