“I am here to exhort the mothers and youth of Punjab, support BJP in this election and Punjab will be free from the scourge of ‘chitta’ by December 31, 2029,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in a forceful address directed at the people of Punjab in his first pre-poll rally here today — making it emphatically clear that BJP will contest the election “kewal” (only) on one issue this year — drugs.Arriving in Jalandhar two months after the Prime Minister’s recent rally, the Home Minister’s speech was a war cry against drugs ahead of the upcoming elections in the state and emphasised repeatedly that ridding Punjab of the chitta scourge was the “only” focus of BJP. Everything else came later.Issuing a scathing condemnation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the state’s AAP government for aggravating the drug problem in the state, he reiterated that only BJP could rid Punjab of drugs as all other parties had failed.In his 20-minute speech, focusing primarily on the drug issue, Shah’s rally bore exhortations to people to support BJP, targeted the state government for systemic inaction on chitta and promised eradication of the menace before 2029 — in keeping with the party’s pan-India anti-drug roadmap — which will start with a “Nasha Mukt Punjab”.Shah also targeted “Kejriwal and company” and CM Bhagwant Mann, accusing him of not allowing NCB to open an office in Punjab.The ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab’ rally followed the culmination of BJP’s 13-day “Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra” across the state.Addressing the gathering, Amit Shah said, “Main aaj Punjab ki janta ko kehne aaya hun — Punjab ke chunav mein kai saare mudde hain — magar aane wala chunav BJP kewal aur kewal — ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab’ ke mudde par ladne wali hai. Aur aaj yahan se Punjab ki mataon ko aur yuvaon ko vaada karke jata hun — is chunav mein Bhajpa ka samarthan kariye — kamal phool par vote daliye — 31 December 2029 se pehle, hum Punjab ko Chitte ke vyapar se mukt kar denge.”He added, “Punjab was known for two things in the country — one, the food bowl godowns which farmers kept filled and secondly, Punjab’s jawan always ready to lay down his life for Maa Bharti. But why did the need for ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab’ arise? AAP allowed chitta to circulate freely. I know what Kejriwal and company will say about us. But we (BJP) have done what we promised. We solved the Kashmir issue, brought an end to Naxalism and eradicated terrorism in the North East under Modi ji’s government. Now it’s the turn for ‘Chitta Mukt Punjab’. After December 31, 2029, no one will give drugs to your kids.”“Chun-chun ke salakho ke peeche dalenge,” he added.The Home Minister also said he met the families of drug victims, adding that a mother who lost two sons to drugs only had one appeal — that her sons couldn’t be saved from drugs, but others’ sons must be saved.Shah repeatedly asked the crowd to answer loudly, “Tell me, can AAP free Punjab of drugs? Can you trust the Aam Aadmi Party? Can you trust those whose name figured in the liquor scam in Delhi?” to which the crowds chanted loudly, “Nahi”.Targeting the state CM, he said, “Punjab is ravaged with scams. Smart city scams, Barnala land scam, panchayat, anganwadi scams, an annual Rs 700 crore is spent on advertisements.”He added, “I ask Bhagwant Mann — what happened to your promises on 26 lakh jobs, 16,000 AAP clinics, medical colleges, widow pension, mining revenue, MSP? None of the promises have been met. Even if you had met only the ‘nasha mukti’ promise, people would have forgiven. But you caused the drug business to thrive in the state.”The rally was marked by a rare collective attendance on the occasion of all Rajya Sabha MPs who had recently joined BJP — Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Vikramjit Sahney, Ashok Mittal and Rajinder Gupta.BJP leaders state president Kewal Dhillon, former presidents Jattvibeil Jakhar and Ashwini Sharma, leaders Tarun Chugh, Manoranjan Kalia, Vijay Sampla, Manpreet Badal, Shwet Malik, Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, Avinash Rai Khanna, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravneet Singh Bittu (whom Shah addressed as a friend), Preneet Kaur, Sushil Rinku, Ashok Sareen Hikki and Anil Sarin, among others, were present on the occasion.Ahead of the rally, Shah also paid obeisance at the Shaktipeeth of Shri Devi Talab Mandir in Jalandhar.