Ujjain, Sep 18 — BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Friday alleged that Punjab's youth, particularly those from farming families, had been pushed towards drug addiction and claimed that the menace had flourished under political patronage.
Speaking to reporters in Ujjain before departing for Punjab to participate in the BJP's anti-drug campaign, Nabin said the state's younger generation had been rendered "directionless" due to the growing drug problem.
"The younger generation of Punjab, which emerged from hardworking farming families and contributed significantly to the state's identity, has been pushed towards drug addiction and deprived of its direction," he said, adding that the youth, who could have played a crucial role in Punjab's development and future growth, had instead fallen victim to substance abuse.
Nabin also alleged that political parties in Punjab had raised the issue of drug abuse for electoral gains but failed to address it after coming to power. “Today, I believe that political parties there also raised the issue of drug abuse only to gain power and, after coming to power, treated it as a business and made it a centre of their activities. These things continued under political protection,” the BJP chief said.
Nabin's visit to Punjab comes amid the BJP's efforts to highlight drug abuse as a major social and political issue in the state. He is scheduled to join the party's anti-drug programme and address the issue of drug addiction among the youth.
Before leaving for Punjab, Nabin visited the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain early Friday morning and participated in the Bhasma Aarti. He spent around one-and-a-half hours in the Nandi Hall witnessing the ritual and later offered prayers at the temple threshold.
Madhya Pradesh BJP president Hemant Khandelwal and BJP MP Anil Firojiya also accompanied him during the temple visit.
Nabin arrived in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday and participated in an event in Ujjain where 2.5 million earthen lamps were lit as part of programmes organised to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday.
He said this was his first Mahakal darshan after becoming BJP national president and that he had prayed for the happiness, peace and good health of the people of the country.