Political mercury rises in Punjab ahead of Amit Shah’s visit

Union Home Minister Amit Shah. File | Photo credit: ANI

The political temperature rose on Monday (Oct 19, 2026) ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s planned visit to Punjab on October 20 to meet the families of those who lost their lives after he spoke out against the drug menace.

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Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon said Mr Shah would meet the family of anti-drug crusader Parminder Singh Jhotta at Mansa; Gulzar Singh’s family in Toor Banjara village in Sangrur district and Bikramjit Singh’s family in Mari Panwan village in Gurdaspur district. Both Jhota and Gulzar Singh died in incidents linked to the state’s drug problem.

Mr. Dhillon said the people of Punjab and the affected families wanted concrete action against drugs and justice for the victims and Mr. Shah’s visit had given new hope to the drug-affected families.

While Mr. Shah in a post on ‘X’ took aim at the AAP government in Punjab, saying, “The AAP government has left no stone unturned in pushing Punjab into the abyss of drugs, causing many families to lose their children. Those people who recently had to lose their lives for raising their voice against meth dealers flourishing under AAP’s protection,” he said.

AAP targeted the BJP over the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claiming responsibility for the attack on actor Tiger Shroff. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said that the party, which is unable to manage law and order in its own states, is coming to Punjab to lecture its people while providing facilities to gangsters to operate.

“They cannot manage law and order in their own states, yet they come to Punjab to lecture others. They treated the country’s biggest gangster as their ‘daamaad’ and provided him with all the means to commit crimes not only in India but across the world.”

He claimed, “They will come to Punjab on Tuesday (October 20) to lecture people about law and order. But people of Punjab know that voting for them would be like inviting their ‘daamaad’ to Punjab,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal urged Mr Shah to order the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe Mr Jhota’s murder, besides calling for a comprehensive probe into the politician-police nexus in the drug trade in Punjab.

In a letter to the Home Minister, the Bathinda MP said Mr Jhota’s father Bhim Singh had given a statement to the police which she claimed was not an act and demanded that the CBI investigate all aspects of the bereaved father’s statement.

Published – 19 Oct 2026 20:33 IST