Chandigarh, February 24 The ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab stated on Tuesday that the people of the state were not aware of gangsters or drugs before 2007, and that these problems flourished under the Shiromani Akali Dal government.
The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) statement came in response to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal's statement at a rally in the Ferozepur Rural constituency earlier in the day, in which he said that gangsters and drug traffickers would be declared terrorists if his party came to power in the 2027 Punjab elections.
The rally was part of the SAD's "Save Punjab" campaign ahead of the assembly elections.
AAP Punjab media in-charge Baltej Pannu said it was hypocritical of those who "promoted a culture of gangsters and drugs" in the state to now talk about launching a cleanup campaign.
He asked who was responsible for the rise of gangster culture and 'chitta' in Punjab.
Before 2007, people in Punjab were not familiar with gangsters or synthetic drugs. These problems flourished during the SAD government's tenure from 2007 to 2017, Pannu charged.
He said that the AAP government, under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, was carrying out a strong campaign against drugs and taking action against gangsters.