Political mercury rises in Punjab ahead of Amit Shah’s visit

Political temperature rose on Monday (October 19, 2026) ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s slated visit to Punjab on October 20, during which he is set to meet the families of those who lost their lives after speaking out against the drug menace.

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Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon said Mr. Shah would meet the family of Parminder Singh Jhotta, the anti-drug crusader, in Mansa; the family of Gulzar Singh in Toor Banjara village of Sangrur district and the family of Bikramjit Singh in Mari Panwan village of Gurdaspur district. Both Jhota and Gulzar Singh died in incidents linked to the State’s drug issue. 

Mr. Dhillon said the people of Punjab and the affected families want concrete action against drugs and justice for the victims and Mr. Shah’s visit has sparked new hope for families affected by drugs.

While Mr. Shah, in a post on ‘X’ targeted the AAP government in Punjab, saying, “The AAP government has left no stone unturned in pushing Punjab into the pit of drugs, which caused many families to lose their children. Those people who recently had to lose their lives for raising their voices against the meth dealers thriving under AAP’s protection,” he said.

The AAP targeted the BJP over the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claiming responsibility for the attack on actor Tiger Shroff. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said that a party unable to manage law and order in its own states was coming to Punjab to lecture its people, while providing gangsters with facilities to operate.

“They cannot manage law and order in their own states, yet they are coming to Punjab to lecture others. They have treated the country’s biggest gangster like their ‘daamaad’ and provided him with every facility to commit crimes not just in India but across the world.”

He asserted, “On Tuesday [October 20], they will come to Punjab to lecture people on law and order. But the people of Punjab know that voting for them would be like inviting their ‘daamaad’ into Punjab,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal urged Mr. Shah to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the murder of Mr. Jhota besides calling for a comprehensive investigation into the politician-police drug trade nexus in Punjab.

In a letter to the Home Minister, the Bathinda MP said that Mr. Jhota’s father — Bhim Singh had given a statement to the police which, she alleged was not being acted upon and demanded that all facets of the bereaved father’s statement be probed by the CBI.