Hitting out at the opposition over the issue of drug menace, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said efforts are being made to defame the people of the state by dubbing them as "drug addicts" and argued had the state been suffering from the problem, it would not have progressed on various indexes.
"I feel sad. Efforts are being made to defame the people and the state... First, we were dubbed as terrorists and now as 'nashedis' (drug addicts)," he said at an event to mark the 300th anniversary of Sikh general Baba Banda Bahadur Singh's martyrdom here.
The event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others.
The SAD leader said the state was high on development index. "We are the biggest producers of hand tools, mushroom, tractor combines... Had we been addicts, we could not have achieved so much," he said.
Sukhbir's father and state chief minister Prakash Singh Badal, Haryana and Punjab Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Haryana CM Manohar Khattar and some Union ministers were also present at the event.
Punjab Assembly election in early 2017 could well be India's first state poll where drug abuse could be a central theme.
The movie 'Udta Punjab' has already given opposition parties like AAP -- seeking to make inroads in the state -- a handle to attack the ruling SAD-BJP combine on the issue of drug abuse.
A Punjab minister had recently downplayed the spread of drug menace in the state, saying only one per cent of the population was affected.
