NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab came under fire on Friday after a viral video appeared to show a young woman in an intoxicated state at Bathinda’s grain market, triggering a fresh political row over the state’s drug menace.The Punjab Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) targeted the government over its handling of the issue. The video, which surfaced on social media, shows the woman behaving erratically in a public place.Bathinda Police said the woman has been admitted to a de-addiction centre. According to the police, she is from Faridkot and her family has been informed. Her mother has also arrived at the centre, while police said further action is being taken, as per TOI sources.Punjab Cong targets MannReacting to the video, Punjab Congress said on X, “The haunting visuals from Bathinda’s grain market expose the stark gap between Bhagwant Mann’s claims and Punjab’s reality. While he holds an event in Ludhiana and declares Punjab “drug-free”, these images tell a very different story. The much-hyped “Yudh Nashian Virudh” has clearly failed. Punjab is being run from Delhi, with Bhagwant Mann reduced to a puppet of Delhi’s leadership. When the government is controlled from Delhi, Punjab’s problems will never be its priority.”Punjab Congress in-charge Sachin Pilot also criticised the state government, saying, “Deeply disturbing videos emerging from Bathinda showing a youth struggling with severe drug addiction, alongside events in Sangrur district where a bereaved family seeking justice due to young man’s suicide was forcefully evicted from outside the Civil Hospital – in the home district of CM @BhagwantMann These should not be dismissed as isolated cases. They point to the AAP government’s absolute failure to address pressing issues on the ground and to fix the accountability where it matters. The AAP government has FAILED Punjab.”Sukhbir Badal attacks AAPSAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal also shared the video and targeted the Mann government.“Our daughters are Punjab’s future, strength and pride. If they are not safe from the drug menace, how will we secure Punjab’s future? The visuals coming from Bathinda grain market have shaken the conscience of Punjab. A young girl in such a pathetic condition, completely doped and behaving in a strange manner in a public place, is a horrifying reminder of how deeply the drug menace has penetrated our society. Guru-Dokhi @BhagwantMann ’s government has failed to protect our youth. Despite all the slogans and publicity around Yudh Nasheyan Virudh, drugs continue to destroy lives and now even our daughters are being swallowed by this menace. Punjab needs freedom from drugs, not a government high on its own publicity.”Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal also criticised the AAP government, saying, “When an ‘outsider’ who doesn’t know the history or geography of Punjab comes and tries to claim ~ ‘I will wipe out drugs from Punjab in 3 months’ ~ this is what happens.”Earlier, SAD has also announced a fresh statewide campaign ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.Shah sets 2029 deadline for drug-free PunjabThe row comes amid an intensifying political battle over Punjab’s drug problem. At a rally in Jalandhar on Wednesday, Union home minister Amit Shah accused the AAP government of allowing the trade in “chitta” to flourish and said the BJP would make Punjab drug-free by December 31, 2029, if voted to power in the 2027 Assembly election.“Such a time has arisen that we have to give a call for making Punjab drug-free, because Aam Aadmi Party govt has allowed open trade of ‘chitta’ in the state. I have come to tell people of Punjab, that there are several serious issues in the state, including that of farmers, industry, law and order, women protection, but in the coming election, BJP will contest only and only on the issue of making Punjab ‘nasha mukt’ (drugs-free),” he said.“From here, I make a promise to the mothers and youths of Punjab, support BJP and vote for lotus in the upcoming assembly election and by Dec 31, 2029, Punjab will be free of drug trade,” he announced.Shah also said the BJP’s anti-drug campaign had covered all 117 Assembly constituencies through the ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’.The AAP, in response, questioned the Centre’s focus on Punjab and pointed to the seizure of 526 kg of heroin and methamphetamine worth more than Rs 3,000 crore in an operation involving the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad and Indian Coast Guard.“Amit Shah came to Punjab today to give lectures on drugs. At the same time, 526 kg of heroin and methamphetamine worth over Rs 3,000 crore has been seized in an operation in which Gujarat ATS provided the intelligence. We have been saying that Gujarat has emerged as a major gateway for drugs in the country. This seizure once again shows the scale of the problem. If Amit Shah is serious about Nasha Mukt Bharat, he should start his Nasha Mukt Yatra from Gujarat, not Punjab,” the AAP said in a statement.
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The party also claimed that the Punjab government had disrupted drug supply networks and alleged that a large share of pharmaceutical drugs seized in the state originated outside Punjab.The Bathinda video is not the first purported footage to trigger discussion over drug abuse in Punjab. Several videos have circulated on social media in recent months, with users claiming they showed people under the influence of drugs, sometimes referring to a “zombie drug”.The term “zombie drug” is commonly used for xylazine, a veterinary sedative that has been found mixed with illicit drugs and is also known as “tranq” or “tranq dope”. However, the presence of xylazine or any specific drug in the Bathinda video has not been independently established.
