Sangrur: Rahul Gandhi opened Congress’s Punjab campaign with a blunt personal and political attack on Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, alleging at a Sangrur rally that the CM drank alcohol and was intoxicated “every single evening” even as the state continued to struggle with narcotics.
Speaking at the Congress’s ‘Insaaf Rally’ in Sangrur on Wednesday, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said he had known Mann during their years as parliamentarians and claimed the Chief Minister would sit among colleagues, joke with them, and carry the smell of alcohol by late morning.
“I was in the Lok Sabha with him. He (Mann) used to sit with us and tell jokes, right there, sitting among us. By 11:00 am, you could smell alcohol on his breath,” Gandhi said.
He was careful to present the charge as a question of public responsibility rather than private conduct. Gandhi said he was not objecting to Mann’s right to drink, but contended that the state’s top elected office demanded greater seriousness from someone leading a campaign against substance abuse.
“Now, I am not saying that Bhagwant Mann shouldn’t drink; that is his personal affair. If he chooses to drink, that is entirely his own business. But if you truly want to fight the menace of substance abuse, your Chief Minister cannot be under the influence every single evening,” he said.
Gandhi argued that Punjab required leadership with genuine empathy for families affected by drugs, rather than a government that merely spoke about the crisis, as reported by NDTV.
“You need someone who will fight for Punjab, someone who genuinely feels the pain caused by drugs, someone who carries the pain of Punjab in his heart,” he said.
AAP Hits Back
The Aam Aadmi Party reacted strongly, calling Gandhi’s remarks personal, demeaning, and unworthy of a national-level politician. AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj said the Congress leader’s accusation served no public purpose and reflected poorly on his political standards.
“Allegations of drug use have also been made against Rahul Gandhi. But making accusations doesn’t achieve anything. I feel that at Rahul Gandhi’s level, he really shouldn’t be making such cheap comments,” Bharadwaj said.
He alleged that Gandhi’s language showed a decline in his politics and claimed that both the BJP and Congress had little to offer in the five state elections currently underway, choosing instead to focus their attacks on Punjab.
“This kind of below-the-belt attack by Rahul Gandhi shows how low his politics has stooped. Whether it’s the Bharatiya Janata Party or Congress, they have nothing to do with the five elections happening in five states. They’ve just made Punjab their joint target,” he added.
Shah’s Drug Pledge Mocked
Gandhi did not confine his criticism to Mann. He also mocked Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assurance that Punjab could be freed of drugs within three years, calling the timeline unrealistic and politically self-serving.
“What timeline did they (Shah) set for the drug issue? Within three years? In three years, Amit Shah won’t even be the Home Minister anymore. My assessment is that this government won’t even last a year,” Gandhi said.
‘Delhi Won’t Control Punjab’
Seeking to position Congress as the alternative in Punjab, Gandhi pledged that his party would ensure the state government answered to Punjabis rather than to leaders seated outside the state.
He accused the current setup of being influenced by both Union Home Minister Amit Shah and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, alleging that decisions affecting Punjab were effectively shaped beyond its borders.
Gandhi said Punjab needed a government that was accountable to its own people, and used the charge to turn AAP’s Delhi-based leadership structure into a core electoral issue ahead of next year’s assembly polls.