40 lakh drug addicts in Punjab, says Arvind Kejriwal

Kejriwal also alleged that the SAD-BJP alliance and Congress have reached a secret pact to contest the 2017 Assembly polls.

Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab polls, Punjab elections, AAP-Punjab elections, Punjab-drug addicts, India news, Indian Express

AAP National Convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and other party leaders during a rally at Tangra near Amritsar on Friday. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)

Arvind Kejriwal, national convener of Aam Aadmi Party and chief minister of Delhi, has given a new figure of drug addicts in Punjab. Addressing a rally in Tangra, Amritsar, on Friday, he said there are 40 lakh drug addicts in the state.

On the first day of his six-day visit to Punjab, he said, “We have all the planning. We will stop the supply of drugs in state within one month of forming government. Big names are behind this smuggling. They all need to be put behind bars to stop supply of drugs.” Kejriwal added, “After stopping drug supply, we have to focus on the drug addicts. They are needed to be treated at first. I had met a person a few days back. He has worked on it and formed an estimate. According to him, 40 lakh youths are drug addicts in Punjab. We will get all these 40 lakh drug addicts treated. We will open new clinics and bring doctors to treat them. We will treat all the addicts within six months.”

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Kejriwal also alleged that the SAD-BJP alliance and Congress have reached a secret pact to contest the 2017 Assembly polls. “After being threatened by AAP’s rising popularity, PPCC chief Captain Amarinder Singh and SAD president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal have held a clandestine meeting to discuss their respective poll prospects in the forthcoming polls. As both of them know very well that both SAD-BJP and Congress would not be able to form the government in Punjab, they have decided to field candidates with mutual understanding,” he charged.

The Delhi chief minister said the Akalis were well aware that they were not coming to power in Punjab as people were simmering in anger and many of them (Akalis) would not even be allowed to enter villages, after announcement of the election. Hence, both Sukhbir and Captain thought it would be appropriate to contest the forthcoming polls with mutual understanding and agreement.

Kejriwal further alleged that the secret pact reached between Sukhbir and the Captain could not have been more evident especially after the Badal government withdrew all corruption cases against Amarinder in Amritsar court.

First uploaded on: 10-12-2016 at 06:05 IST

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