Ravneet Singh Bittu, the Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing, Sunday announced the opening up of at least 16 offices of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) across Punjab to combat the drug menace.
“With the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and our Union Home Minister Amit Shah, we will soon overcome drug crisis in Punjab,” Bittu said, highlighting the three alleged drug-related deaths in Moga district alone. The minister said that the current drug crisis was affecting Punjab’s youth. He criticised successive state governments, including those led by Congress, Akali Dal and AAP, for failing to address the issue.
Bittu criticised the current AAP government for their inaction “despite receiving a significant mandate from the people of Punjab”. He specifically targeted Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, accusing him of incompetence and alleging that police transfers have worsened the drug situation.
The minister paid tribute at Shaheedi Park, Moga, where at least 25 RSS workers were allegedly massacred on June 25, 1989, during the militancy period in Punjab.
Bittu, who switched from the Congress to the BJP ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections, said that during the RSS shakha at Moga in 1989, terrorists had opened fire, killing everyone on the spot. He also visited the gallery displaying the martyrs’ pictures and planted saplings.
While mentioning his late grandfather, former Punjab CM Beant Singh, who was also assassinated by the terrorists in 1995, the minister empathised with the families who had lost their loved ones. “My grandfather, at the time of this massacre, had also visited the spot very next day,” said Bittu, adding that “the RSS operates beyond caste and religion distinctions”.
Commenting on radical preacher Amritpal Singh becoming a Member of Parliament from Khaboor Sahib, Bittu said that voters may have mistakenly believed Amritpal would be released from jail. He stressed that the “law is supreme, and any leader involved in anti-national activities will face consequences”. Bittu questioned what benefits the voters would receive when their MP cannot fulfil parliamentary duties.
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