Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday made a drug-free Punjab a central issue of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign for the 2027 Assembly elections, promising that the party would end the illicit trade in “chitta” by December 31, 2029, if voted to power. Addressing a rally in Jalandhar at the culmination of the BJP’s 13-day “Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra”, Shah appealed to the state’s youth and families affected by drug abuse to support the BJP. He said the party would pursue those involved in narcotics trafficking and put them behind bars.

Shah accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab of allowing the synthetic drug trade to flourish and argued that tackling narcotics would be the BJP’s primary campaign issue in the next Assembly election. He said there would be several issues before voters, including agriculture, industry, law and order and women’s safety, but the BJP would focus its campaign on creating a drug-free Punjab. Shah’s allegations against the state government are part of the BJP’s political campaign, while the AAP has rejected the criticism and maintained that its government has taken action against the drug problem.

The Home Minister also directly targeted Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann while discussing the drug issue. Without naming Mann in one of his remarks, Shah said that a person who consumes intoxicants and insults Sikh Gurus could not be expected to free Punjab from drugs. He also accused the state government of failing to address the problem and said the BJP would identify those supplying “chitta” and take legal action against them. Shah linked the issue to the state’s younger population, saying Punjab’s development would be affected unless its youth were freed from drug addiction.

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The rally marked the conclusion of the BJP’s statewide “Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra”, which began on September 18. The campaign was conducted through four routes and covered nearly 4,000 kilometres across all 117 Assembly constituencies, before converging in Jalandhar. The BJP used the campaign to highlight families affected by drug addiction and to make narcotics a prominent political issue ahead of the 2027 election. The party had previously said the yatra was intended to build public awareness around drug abuse and strengthen its campaign against the illicit drug trade.

Shah’s remarks come as political parties prepare for the 2027 Punjab Assembly election, with the drug issue emerging as a major area of contest between the BJP and the ruling AAP. The BJP has sought to portray the drug problem as an issue of governance and law enforcement, while AAP leaders have defended the state government’s record and questioned the role of the central government in addressing narcotics entering Punjab. The political dispute therefore includes competing claims over responsibility for the drug trade and the effectiveness of measures taken against it.

At the Jalandhar rally, Shah also referred to Punjab’s contribution to agriculture, national security and the armed forces before returning to the drug issue. His December 31, 2029 deadline now forms a specific political commitment around which the BJP is framing its campaign in the state. Whether the party’s proposed target can be achieved would depend on its performance in the 2027 election and, if it forms the government, the policies and enforcement measures it subsequently implements. For now, the pledge remains an electoral commitment made by Shah on behalf of the BJP.

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