Mumbai, Sep 3 (IANS) Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday after the Maharashtra government’s pledge to make the state drug-free by 2029.
Terming the ambitious initiative a “hypocritical” and “event-driven spectacle”, the Thackeray camp, in an editorial in the party’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, questioned why the ruling administration failed to curb the flourishing narcotics trade despite holding power for over a decade.
The Thackeray faction pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been at the helm in New Delhi since 2014, while Devendra Fadnavis has wielded significant authority in Maharashtra for roughly the same period. The party urged citizens to mark the 2029 deadline in their calendars and hold the current political leadership accountable when the timeline expires.
The editorial levelled grave allegations against the state administration, claiming that illicit drug trade networks, liquor manufacturers, and contraband suppliers operate under explicit political patronage.
Referring to past busts of illicit manufacturing units in Nashik, Pune, and Satara, the Shiv Sena(UBT) accused the state Home Department — headed by CM Fadnavis — of suppressing critical investigations into land allocations and chemical pill factories.
Describing the worsening law-and-order situation, the editorial warned that regions like Nashik and Pune are turning the state into an “Udta Maharashtra”. The editorial further condemned BJP leaders for allegedly mocking local citizens who took to the streets to protest against growing substance abuse.
”The BJP is a hypocritical and publicity-obsessed party of the highest order,” the editorial stated. “Currently, all drug traffickers, alcohol manufacturers, cigar and cigarette vendors, and bhang-ganja sellers in Maharashtra are under the patronage of the BJP. The wheels of BJP’s politics run on this drug trade, yet these very people have set out to make Maharashtra ‘drug-free’,” it remarked.
Raising questions about the official definition of “intoxication”, the editorial highlighted that numerous sugar factory owners who produce alcohol “have taken refuge within the BJP’s ranks”. It questioned whether CM Fadnavis would dare to issue stern warnings to these “liquor barons” or attempt to reframe the classification of alcohol to dilute the campaign’s mandate.
The attack also extended beyond state borders, citing massive drug seizures at a Gujarat port originating from neighbouring countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan. The editorial alleged that despite claims of high-level security, narcotics continue to flow unhindered into Maharashtra through these trade corridors.
Concluding its broadside, the Thackeray camp asserted that addiction in the state is not limited to illegal substances such as charas, ganja, and brown sugar. “Intoxication and drunkenness stem not just from substances, but also from corruption and money — and Maharashtra will have to be freed from that intoxication as well,” the editorial declared.
–IANS
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