BJP slams Punjab's AAP government as videos showing people under influence of drugs go viral on social media

Recently, purported videos of individuals in disastrously inebriated state have taken the internet by storm, raising concerns on the drug menace in northern India's Punjab.

Taking a swipe at the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa alleged that the youth of the state was suffering due to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s greed.

He accused AAP MLAs and MPs of direct involvement in making the drug mafia stronger in Punjab.

Sharing one of the viral videos on his official X account, he came down heavily on the AAP government and Mann.

"This late-night video of Amritsar of a young girl high on drugs shows the failure of the AAP Punjab Government! What have you done to Punjab, CM Bhagwant Mann Ji?" Sirsa questioned.

"You came to power promising elimination of drugs in 3 months but now your own party people are involved in this! Drug Mafia has become stronger with direct involvement of AAP MLAs and MPs… Punjab’s youth is dying due to Bhagwant Mann’s greed," he added.

AAP has found itself in hot waters in the recent months after Delhi CM and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in connection with the money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

Last month, the Enforcement Directorate filed an official dossier with the Union Home Ministry (MHA) where it alleged that AAP received over Rs 7 crore (8,38,994.80 USD) as foreign funding, in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

The ED shared the inputs with MHA after it retrieved several emails and documents from the time when a money laundering probe related to drugs was launched against former Punjab AAP MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira along with other political figures.

Notably, the investigation was initiated in 2021 and Khaira was arrested in the case by ED that year. He left AAP and is at present with the Congress party.

The federal probe agency, as per news agency PTI's reports, found out that till now, AAP has received about Rs 7.08 crore as overseas donations.

The ED also alleged that the party has "mis-declared and manipulated" details like the identities and nationalities of the foreign donors.

AAP however refuted the accusations calling them baseless.

"These are baseless allegations. It is an old case where it has already been proved that no illegal donation has been taken," senior AAP leader Atishi stated.

(With inputs from agencies)