As Home Minister Amit Shah called out the AAP government in Punjab over the drug menace, State Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) said Amit Shah must explain what the Centre has done to dismantle drug supply chains operating beyond Punjab’s borders.
Mr. Cheema’s reaction came as Mr. In a statement, Mr. Cheema claimed that while the AAP government was taking stringent action against drug traffickers, the Centre continued to ignore the sources supplying synthetic and pharmaceutical drugs that were being misused as intoxicants in Punjab. “The main sources of synthetic and pharmaceutical drugs flooding Punjab are in states governed by the BJP and Congress, yet the central government has failed to take decisive action against those manufacturing and supplying these substances. The Punjab Government has repeatedly sought stronger legal provisions to stop this misuse, but the Centre has failed to provide any concrete response. On Mr. He questioned their failure to act against pharmaceutical drug manufacturers operating in BJP and Congress-ruled states despite repeated appeals from Punjab. He asserted that the Bhagwant Mann government would pursue the fight against drugs with full force and would not allow political considerations or administrative obstacles to weaken its resolve. He claimed that these factories were operating in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat and the central government must explain why it had failed to act against the sources of this supply chain.
He also accused the central government of failing to act against synthetic drug manufacturers operating in states ruled by the BJP and the Congress despite repeated appeals from Punjab and said the Centre must stop treating Punjab’s drug crisis as a “political opportunity”. Shah met the kin of victims of the drug menace in Punjab and said he had come to remind the AAP government and its leaders that they promised to eradicate the drug trade within three months of coming to power, but it is growing. The senior AAP leader asserted that the government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann would pursue the fight against drugs with full force and would not allow “political considerations or administrative obstacles” to weaken its resolve. Punjab is fighting this menace on the ground, but the Centre is turning a blind eye to a serious threat to the lives of our youth,” he said. Cheema said, “Medicines such as Pregabalin, Gaba, Tramadol, Zopiclone, Flu Practsol and Carisoprodol are being misused as intoxicants in Punjab, even though these medicines can only be obtained with a doctor’s prescription. Shah’s day-long visit to Punjab on Tuesday (October 20), Cheema said the Union Home Minister must answer “some fundamental questions” including what concrete steps the central government has taken to stop drugs from entering Punjab across the international border. Earlier reporting noted: Cheema said no manufacturing unit of prescription medicines being misused as intoxicants was located in Punjab.
Earlier reporting noted: Addressing a press conference, Cheema claimed that the Punjab government was taking stringent action against drug traffickers, but the Centre continued to ignore the sources supplying synthetic and pharmaceutical drugs to the state. Earlier reporting noted: AAP questions Centre over action on pharma units supplying drugs to Punjab Chandigarh: With Union home minister Amit Shah visiting Punjab to meet the family members of those who died in incidents linked to the drug menace in Punjab, AAP leader and cabinet minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led central government.
