DOSE-DUMPED LAND

The drug menace, and the nexus between drug peddlers and politicians, will be a key electoral issue

- NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

During tough electoral battles, the gloves come off. In Punjab, the ruling Congress unabashedly stirred the hornet’s nest when it threw its weight behind Sukhpal Singh Khaira. Khaira—who was among the rebel Aam Aadmi Party MLAs to join the Congress last year— was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on money laundering charges on November 11, 2021. And, he was in jail when the Congress declared him its candidate from Bholath in Kapurthala district. According to the ED, Khaira had links to a convicted political functionary and drug smuggler Gurdev Singh, who, in turn, had connections with a UK-based alleged drug kingpin Major Singh Bajwa. Gurdev has been cooling his heels in jail since 2015. The ED says Bajwa was smuggling narcotics substances into Punjab via Pakistan through his Lahore-based contacts.

The ED investigations, accessed by THE WEEK, note that Gurdev has admitted to funding Khaira’s election campaign. The controversial leader was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 28; he filed his nomination on January 31.

Khaira’s nomination created divisions within the party’s Punjab unit; ministers like Rana Gurjeet Singh appealed to party president Sonia Gandhi to expel Khaira. Gurjeet—known to be close to former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh— said it would be difficult for the Congress to defend its move to field Khaira after it has “sworn to eliminate drugs”. Coincidentally, the Charanjit Singh Channi government has inherited the twin flagship programmes of Amarinder Singh to battle drug menace in the border state—the Buddy and Drug Abuse Prevention Officers programmes. The fate of these plans now hinges on the next government’s policies.