The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday, 23 October formally appealed to Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria in Chandigarh to dismiss Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, alleging he has been patronising the drug trade in the state. The party delegation, led by SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal, also demanded ₹2 crore compensation for the family of slain anti-drug crusader Parvinder Singh Jhota and a gazetted Class I government job for his widow.

Key Demands Placed Before the Governor

The SAD delegation submitted a memorandum calling for action against all ministers, legislators, and civil and police officials allegedly involved in patronising the drug trade or issuing arms licences to drug offenders. The party further demanded that the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Jhota's murder be expanded to cover two additional cases.

The first is the case of Gulzar Singh of Toor Banjara in Dirba, who reportedly named Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema in his dying declaration. The second involves Bikramjit Singh of Hargobindpur Sahib, who was allegedly hacked to death for opposing the drug mafia.

Badal's Allegations Against CM Mann and Top Police Official

Asserting that Chief Minister Mann bore direct responsibility for Jhota's killing, Badal cited the statement of Jhota's father, Bhim Singh, to the police. According to Badal, Bhim Singh highlighted how his son fell victim to a politician-police nexus behind the drug trade, which he claimed received patronage from the highest levels of the state government, including from the Chief Minister himself.

Badal added that Bhim Singh had also gone on record stating that his son had told him that State Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav was behind false cases registered against Jhota. These are allegations made by the family; neither Mann nor Yadav has been named as an accused in a court of law, and neither side has publicly responded to the specific claims as of the time of this report.

SAD's Appeal for the Jhota Family

Badal stressed that even though Jhota's father had not personally sought any benefit, the state carried a moral obligation to support the family. He noted that Jhota's wife was a teacher and urged the government to elevate her appointment to a gazetted Class I post. 'The drug crusader's family is a family of Punjab,' Badal said, framing the demand as one of principle rather than charity.

The Broader Punjab Drug Crisis

This development comes amid sustained public concern over Punjab's long-standing drug menace, which has claimed thousands of lives and fuelled organised crime in the state. The SAD's move to approach the Governor directly escalates the political pressure on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, which came to power in 2022 on a prominent anti-drug plank.

'Punjab and Punjabis have realised that the drug menace and its perpetrators and patrons are the number one enemy of the state and that they must be dealt with most sternly,' Badal said during the briefing. The memorandum warned that these corrective steps were necessary to send a clear message that 'enough was enough.' All allegations against named individuals remain unverified in a court of law and have been attributed to the SAD and Jhota's family as their stated positions.

Whether the Governor acts on the memorandum — and in what capacity — remains to be seen, with constitutional experts noting that a Governor's powers to dismiss an elected government are highly circumscribed under Indian constitutional law.