Pahlaj Nihalani has ‘officially’ sounded the Punjab Assembly 2017 elections’ bugle

When Indian censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani accused Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap of taking money from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for making Udta Punjab to show the State in bad light, he must have not realised it would boomerang.

The whole controversy surrounding Bollywood movie Udta Punjab, starring Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Diljit Dosanjh, has knowingly or unknowingly worked in the favour of the AAP.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, “It is a joke that Nihalani thinks AAP will give Anurag Kashyap money to make a film just to show BJP-SAD in a bad light. One need not go that far. It is all out in the open anyway. Drug abuse in Punjab is a harsh reality, and we are not supporting Kashyap here so much as we are backing the issue.”

The accusations made by the censor board chief, which were rubbished by Anurag Kashyap, has given political plank to AAP for Punjab assembly elections in 2017-Drug menace.

It is likely that AAP will give voice to the undertones of Punjab, who want to get rid of the menace, which has consumed many lives, taking away sole breadwinners from the families.

AAP had surprised everyone in 2014 Lok Sabha polls by winning four seats in the lower house, and they were from Punjab.

Since then, AAP has been making all efforts to cement its position in Punjab and derail SAD-BJP alliance.

However, this is not the first time the AAP attacked the state government. In previous instances too, AAP leaders have openly accused Punjab Cabinet Ministers of being ‘drug lords’.

“In the past, Sukhbir Badal has denied any drug menace in Punjab and his Cabinet Minister Surjit Jiyani has ruled out even a single drug-addict in the state, but on the other hand, Chief Minister Parkash Badal announced the opening of the country’s first Women Rehab Centre for de-addiction in the state,” AAP MP Bhagwant Mann had said.

He also alleged that Punjab Cabinet Minister Bikramjit Majithia was a drug lord.

Then, Majithia had filed a defamation case against the AAP leaders, including chief Arvind Kejriwal.

In response to the defamation case, Bhagwant Mann said, “Badals should visit Maqbool Pura of Amritsar and Sur Singh village of Tarn Taran to assess how drugs ruined several families.”

He has spoken the truth.

The situation in Maqboolpura is very grim, as the village is now known as the ‘village of widows’. Families residing in the village say there is hardly any male member who is not affected by the drug menace and most of them have died.

A study by Social Security Development of Women and Children department stated that 67 percent households in Punjab have at least one person addicted to drugs. The Narcotics Bureau stated that nearly 40 percent men in Punjab are hooked to drugs.

Well, Kejriwal could gain ground in Punjab, dismantling the Punjab government. Only time will tell.