How can drug menace issue cast shadow on Punjab 2027 Assembly polls | Explained

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Locals sitting on protest as Parvinder Singh Jhota, an anti-drug crusader, was shot dead on October 13 in Punjab’s Mansa town. File | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

Story so far: The drug menace has remained a central political and social issue in Punjab for years and despite tall promises to eradicate it, the successive governments have failed to successfully address the problem.

In the past decade, before the 2017 Assembly elections, the then Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh had, under oath of ‘Gutka Sahib’ (a small book with sacred verses from Guru Granth Sahib), promised the people of Punjab to stamp out the menace of drugs within four weeks of assuming power. The Congress ruled from 2017 to 2022, yet the drug problem remained. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made a similar promise in 2022, saying it would end the drug menace within three to four months of after forming the government. Four and a half years later, the problem continues to plague the State.

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