BJP takes drug campaign to Punjab, AAP counters with CM Bhagwant Mann’s door-to-door outreach

The drug issue is increasingly shaping political outreach in Punjab ahead of the 2027 Assembly election, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) taking their competing messages directly to voters.

The BJP has launched its statewide “Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra”, placing drugs, law and order and corruption at the centre of its campaign. In response, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has begun a door-to-door exercise from Dhuri, taking his government's report card to households while highlighting the AAP government's anti-drug measures, welfare schemes and development work.

The BJP's four simultaneous yatras, launched from Pathankot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Fazilka and Talwandi Sabo, are collectively covering nearly 4,000 km and all 117 Assembly constituencies. The campaign is scheduled to culminate in Jalandhar on September 30.

CM Mann takes government report card to households

Mann launched the AAP's door-to-door campaign from Dhuri in Sangrur, his Assembly constituency, on September 20. The party is presenting its four-and-a-half-year record through the campaign, with party workers expected to reach households across the state.

The outreach has been branded around “Mann Da Munafa”, with the chief minister highlighting the financial benefits of government schemes, including free electricity, healthcare, education and the Maavan Dheeyan Satkar Yojna. AAP has said the campaign will run for a month, with its pamphlets listing fulfilled guarantees and a “chargesheet” against previous SAD-BJP and Congress governments being distributed during the exercise.

The campaign comes alongside the government's effort to make its “Yudh Nashean Virudh” initiative a central part of its grassroots message.

Five-point strategy puts drugs at centre

The Mann government is presenting its anti-drug campaign as a five-point strategy covering enforcement, prevention, youth engagement, community vigilance, and treatment and rehabilitation.

According to government figures, the Anti-Narcotics Task Force registered 61,824 FIRs and arrested 81,433 people between March 2025 and September 2026. The government said enforcement agencies seized 3,918 kg of heroin, 991 kg of opium, 47 tonnes of poppy husk, 1,416 kg of ganja and 65 lakh tablets and capsules during the period.

The state has also expanded prevention efforts in schools. A 14-week anti-drug curriculum is being taught to around 7.5 lakh students in 3,600 schools, while teachers are being trained to recognise early signs of vulnerability to substance abuse. Sports, cultural activities, mental-health clubs and other youth programmes form part of the wider prevention effort. The government has said nearly 25,000 teachers from 13 districts are to be covered in the first phase, with around 7,000 already sensitised in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Fazilka.

At the community level, around 1.25 lakh people have joined nearly 15,000 Village and Ward Defence Committees. The government has also said that more than 51,000 citizen tip-offs received through the Safe Punjab WhatsApp Helpline since its launch have contributed to more than 25,000 drug-related arrests. More than 50,000 committee members have reportedly been trained to use the Nasha Mukti App.

Treatment network expanded alongside enforcement

The government is also highlighting treatment and rehabilitation as part of its response, rather than relying solely on policing.

Punjab currently has 547 Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centres, 219 de-addiction centres and 91 rehabilitation centres. Government figures show that admissions to state-run de-addiction and rehabilitation centres rose from more than 12,200 in 2024 to nearly 34,000 in 2025, an increase of more than 170%.

The state has also reported expanding health facilities, training healthcare workers and introducing skilling and creative activities at treatment centres as part of the rehabilitation process.

BJP expands statewide anti-drug mobilisation

The BJP's “Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra” is being conducted through four routes and is designed to reach all 117 Assembly constituencies. The party has said the campaign will focus not only on the drug menace but also on law and order and corruption.

The four yatras are scheduled to converge in Jalandhar on September 30. The BJP has planned a concluding rally there, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah expected to address the gathering. Reports said the campaign will collectively cover around 4,000 km, while party leaders have described it as an effort to turn the anti-drug campaign into a wider public movement.

The BJP has criticised the AAP government's handling of the drug issue, while Mann has questioned the BJP's record, including its previous alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal between 2007 and 2017. The competing claims have turned the drug crisis into a prominent point of political confrontation ahead of the next Assembly election.

With both parties now taking their messages to the grassroots, Punjab's drug problem is being addressed through competing political narratives: the BJP is using a statewide yatra focused on drugs, law and order and corruption, while the AAP is presenting its enforcement, prevention, community vigilance and rehabilitation measures alongside its broader governance record.