Punjab Newsline | Chandigarh
Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab leader and Cabinet Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal on Wednesday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the recent incident in Dirba, accusing the opposition of politicising a tragedy instead of respecting the sentiments of the affected family and local residents.
Responding to Gandhi’s social media post, Goyal said the AAP government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had taken decisive action against the drug menace in Punjab. He also questioned the Congress over its 2017 promise to eradicate drugs within four weeks.
“Your party came to power in 2017 promising to eradicate drugs within four weeks. You had five years in government, what did you do during those five years?” Goyal asked.
Minister claimed that the Bhagwant Mann government had launched an unprecedented, war-level campaign against drugs and that its results were now visible. He alleged that the opposition was attempting to politicise a tragic incident because it had no substantive issues left to raise against the state government.
“Earlier, you did politics in the name of religion and caste. Now, when those issues have failed, you have started doing politics over dead bodies. This is not the culture of Punjab,” Goyal said.
Goyal further claimed that the affected family had decided to conduct the last rites of Gulzar Singh according to its own wishes. However, opposition leaders allegedly reached the spot and attempted to turn the situation into a political issue.
According to the minister, local residents opposed the presence of political leaders and asked them to leave, saying that a local committee had already been formed to handle the matter.
Goyal said the drug menace was a legacy of previous Congress and Akali-BJP governments, while the present AAP government was working to dismantle drug networks in the state.
Addressing Rahul Gandhi directly, Goyal said, “Come to Punjab. Come to that village and see the situation yourself. Talk to the people and understand what they want and what they are saying. Sitting in Delhi and making statements does not reflect the ground reality.”
The minister also accused opposition leaders of rushing to Punjab whenever an unfortunate incident takes place in the state.
“People of Punjab do not appreciate this kind of politics. Punjab believes in living together, maintaining harmony and Sarbat da Bhala,” he said.
Goyal reiterated that neither any AAP minister nor any MLA had any connection with the incident and urged opposition parties to refrain from what he described as “dirty politics.”
