Fight drug nexus after coming to power: Rahul Gandhi to Amarinder

Maintain that there exists a "triangle"- a nexus of the government, police and drug peddlers -in the state, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked Capt. Amarinder Singh to fight this nexus on priority after forming the government in the state.

"There is a triangle, a nexus of the government, police and drug peddlers. I would like to say to Amarinder Singh ji that when your government comes to power, your first job should be to fight this nexus," Gandhi told Congress' chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab Assembly polls Amarinder Singh, who was also present at the event.

Speaking after the screening of a documentary 'Burning Punjab' here, the Congress vice-president said drugs was a big problem in the state and recapitulated his earlier remark that around 70 percent of Punjab youth were drug addicts.

"When I said that, I was mocked, and Badal ji (in apparent reference to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal) contested my claim, saying it was not 70 percent," he said, adding, "the question is not of the percent of drugs abuse, the question is Punjab's youth have lost their path, of which drugs abuse is a symptom."

Stating that there are other symptoms too, he added, "The youth in Haryana are able to get jobs, which is not the case in Punjab."

"If you don't give a positive dream to the youth of Punjab, if you don't show them a golden future, they will resort to things like drugs," he said.

Taking a dig at the Punjab Government over the increasing drug menace in the state, Gandhi said, "I have a complaint with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government: when the entire Punjab was telling you that drug addiction was a problem, you should have listened that. But your statement that there was no drug problem in Punjab; it shows that you are not listening and understanding the voice and soul of Punjab."

Calling upon the people of Punjab to join the fight against drugs abuse, he said drugs eradication from Punjab should not be a fight of the Congress Party only, and asked everybody to join hands together in this quest.