Chandigarh: Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s scheduled visit to Jalandhar on September 30 is set to provide a major political test for the BJP’s statewide Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra, launched with the stated objective of mobilising public support against drugs ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.
Shah is scheduled to address the concluding rally of the BJP’s 13 day campaign in Jalandhar, where four separate yatras launched from different parts of Punjab are expected to converge after travelling across the state.
The campaign was launched on September 18 by BJP national president Nitin Nabin from Madhopur in Pathankot. The four yatras collectively cover nearly 4,000 km and all 117 Assembly constituencies before culminating in Jalandhar on September 30.
For the BJP’s Punjab unit, however, the Jalandhar gathering comes at a politically important point. The party has made the drug issue one of its central themes in Punjab, repeatedly attacking the state government over the continued availability of narcotics and promising a stronger campaign against the drug network.
Nabin, while launching the yatra, said Punjab needed a “rising Punjab” rather than an “Udta Punjab” and called for the complete eradication of drugs. The BJP has positioned the campaign as a statewide movement against drug abuse, while its political opponents have questioned the timing of the campaign ahead of the Assembly elections.
The Jalandhar rally will also be closely watched for the size of the gathering, particularly because the BJP has set an ambitious target for mobilisation.
The party has selected a large site near Paragpur on the GT Road for the event. Around 50 to 55 acres have reportedly been earmarked, with separate arrangements for the main gathering and parking. BJP leaders have said that around 2,000 buses are expected to bring party workers and supporters from different parts of Punjab.
The party has projected a gathering of around two lakh people, making the actual turnout one of the key points of interest when Shah addresses the rally.
The turnout will also be watched against the backdrop of the BJP’s recent mobilisation efforts in Punjab. The party has held a series of programmes on the drug issue, bringing senior national leaders into the state and attempting to build a campaign around narcotics, law and order and governance.
The BJP’s decision to launch the Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra across all 117 Assembly constituencies gives the campaign a wider political significance. With the 2027 elections still months away, the party is seeking to establish its organisational presence across Punjab and take its anti drug message directly to voters.
The BJP is also attempting to build its campaign without an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal. The party’s senior leadership has repeatedly highlighted its own organisational expansion in Punjab as it prepares for the next Assembly election.
Shah’s September 30 address is therefore expected to provide an indication of the issues the BJP intends to emphasise in the coming months.
The drug menace is likely to remain at the centre of the campaign. The party has argued that the problem requires action against both the supply network and those involved in trafficking, along with rehabilitation and prevention measures.
The BJP has also called for greater coordination among agencies including the Punjab Police, Narcotics Control Bureau, Border Security Force and other central agencies to tackle drug trafficking and the network operating along the international border.
At the same time, the campaign is unfolding amid continuing political attacks between the BJP and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party over Punjab’s law and order situation and the drug problem.
The September 30 rally will thus be watched not only for Shah’s political message but also for whether the BJP’s statewide campaign translates into significant public mobilisation in Jalandhar.
With the party claiming that its four yatras have reached all 117 constituencies and travelled nearly 4,000 km, the concluding rally will offer a visible measure of the organisational mobilisation generated by the campaign.
For Punjab politics, the event could mark the beginning of a more sustained BJP campaign around the drug issue as the state moves towards the 2027 Assembly elections.
