Partap Singh Bajwa slams AAP over Majitha tragedy, seeks judicial probe
Chandigarh: Leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly,
Partap Singh Bajwa
, launched a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party-led state government over the hooch tragedy in Majitha, which has so far claimed 17 lives.
He questioned the credibility of the government's much-publicised, "Yudh nashian de virudh" (war against drugs) campaign and held chief minister Bhagwant Mann directly responsible for the incident.
"The chief minister himself has publicly admitted that such a tragedy could not have occurred without political, bureaucratic, or police support. I agree with him. If the
liquor mafia
is thriving under his watch, he is either complicit—or incompetent," Bajwa remarked.He pointed out that this was not an isolated case. "In March last year, eight persons died after consuming illicit liquor in Dirba assembly segment of Sangrur district. Incidentally, Dirba is represented by finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Sangrur is the chief minister's home district," he said. Bajwa also accused the
AAP government
of failing to check the drug menace.
"Deaths of Punjabi youth due to drug overdose have become the new normal. The government's claim of making Punjab drug-free has been thoroughly exposed by incidents like this one," he said.Referring to past deadlines, Bajwa said, "DGP Gaurav Yadav has now set a May 31 deadline to eradicate drugs. Earlier, CM Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal made similar promises.
Has the government cared to tell Punjabis what happened to those deadlines?"Calling for accountability, Bajwa said: "This is not the time for hollow statements. People of Punjab do not need sympathy—they demand justice. Justice begins with fixing responsibility. The excise department, tasked with regulating liquor, has clearly failed. Excise minister Harpal Cheema must resign. Anything less would be an insult to those who lost their lives."Bajwa demanded a judicial inquiry monitored by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court, stressing that the guilty must be booked—regardless of their position or power. "The Majitha hooch tragedy has once again laid bare the dangerous nexus between the liquor mafia and the political-administrative machinery in Punjab. This is not merely a case of toxic liquor—it is a case of toxic governance," he asserted. MSID:: 121139116 413 |
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