How could a Chief Minister who drinks lead Punjab's fight against substance abuse? Questioned Rahul Gandhi as he started campaigning in the state ahead of next year's assembly polls where Congress will face its INDIA bloc ally Aam Aadmi Party. He was taking a jibe at Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, but was wary of attacking the latter's "personal matters".
Addressing the Congress's 'Insaaf Rally' in Sangrur on November 4, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha recalled his interactions with Mann when he was a Member of Parliament.
"I was in the Lok Sabha with him. He (Mann) used to sit with us and tell jokes, right there, sitting among us. By 11:00 am, you could smell alcohol on his breath," Gandhi said.
He quickly clarified that he was not questioning the Punjab Chief Minister's personal choice to consume alcohol but argued that the issue assumed significance when the person holding the highest executive office in Punjab was expected to lead a campaign against substance abuse.
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"Now, I am not saying that Bhagwant Mann shouldn't drink; that is his personal affair. If he chooses to drink, that is entirely his own business. But if you truly want to fight the menace of substance abuse, your Chief Minister cannot be under the influence every single evening," he said.
Rahul added that Punjab needed a leader who genuinely understood the suffering caused by drugs and was personally committed to fighting the menace.
"You need someone who will fight for Punjab, someone who genuinely feels the pain caused by drugs, someone who carries the pain of Punjab in his heart," he said.
The remarks did not sit well with AAP, which described them as a "below-the-belt" attack and unbecoming of such a senior leader.
Reacting to Gandhi's address, AAP Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj said that making such accusations did not serve any purpose. "Allegations of drug use have also been made against Rahul Gandhi. But making accusations doesn't achieve anything. I feel that at Rahul Gandhi's level, he really shouldn't be making such cheap comments," Bharadwaj said.
"This kind of below-the-belt attack by Rahul Gandhi shows how low his politics has stooped. Whether it's the Bharatiya Janata Party or Congress, they have nothing to do with the five elections happening in five states. They've just made Punjab their joint target," he added.
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'Amit Shah Won't Remain Home Minister After A Year'
AAP was not the only target of Gandhi's attack on Wednesday as he also targeted Home Minister Amit Shah over his claim that Punjab would be made drug-free within three years.
Taking a dig at Shah's three-year timeline commitment to eradicate Punjab's drug issue, Gandhi said, "What timeline did they (Shah) set for the drug issue? Within three years? In three years, Amit Shah won't even be the Home Minister anymore. My assessment is that this government won't even last a year."
Gandhi made drugs and gangsterism the centrepiece of his broader attack on the Bhagwant Mann government and referred to the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala to question the state's law-and-order situation.
Gandhi brought Moosewala's father Balkaur Singh Sidhu on stage and said that his son was "murdered in broad daylight in Punjab, gunned down while in his car."
Moosewala was shot dead in his car on May 29, 2022 in Punjab's Mansa district.
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"The same mindset that led to Sidhu Moose Wala being shot dead in public, without any fear, is now spreading to every corner of Punjab," Gandhi claimed.
