An anti-drug activist gunned down in broad daylight — and the alleged shooter is a medical store owner accused of peddling narcotics. Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot has sharply condemned the killing of Punjab-based activist Parvinder Singh Jhota on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, demanding justice for the family and calling out the Aam Aadmi Party government's failure to protect those who dare to speak up against the drug trade.

A Brazen Killing, a Bitter Irony

The details, as Pilot frames them, carry a searing irony: the very establishment meant to dispense medicine — a medical store — allegedly became a front for drug sales, and when an activist raised his voice against it, he was shot dead in daylight. A live video of the incident, Pilot notes, has surfaced on social media, amplifying public outrage.

'जिस दुकान से दवाइयाँ मिलनी चाहिए, उसी दुकानदार पर नशे की बिक्री का आरोप लगाया जा रहा है' — ('The very shopkeeper from whom medicines should come is being accused of selling drugs') — Pilot wrote, adding that the person who protested was shot dead. The rhetorical question he closes with lands like an indictment: 'Whose responsibility is it to protect those who raise their voice against drugs?'

Pilot's Direct Challenge to Bhagwant Mann and AAP

Pilot does not stop at condolences. He demands that the state government take cognisance of the demands of Parvinder Singh Jhota's family, ensure justice, and take strict action against the accused. Then he sharpens the political blade — tagging Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann directly, he argues that AAP's failure to curb the growing narcotics trade in the state means the party 'cannot escape its responsibility.' His closing line in English is unambiguous: 'AAP govt has lost the moral right to govern Punjab.'

The post tags @INCPunjab, @incindia, and @CMOPbIndia — signalling that this is both a party-line message and a direct call to the Chief Minister's office to act.

Punjab's Drug Crisis and the Governance Blame Game

Punjab has lived with the shadow of drug trafficking for decades, cutting across caste, class, and geography. The problem did not begin with any single government — multiple administrations have grappled with it — but AAP's 2022 election manifesto made the drug menace a centrepiece promise, vowing to eliminate it within a short timeframe after sweeping to power under Bhagwant Mann. That promise has since become the sharpest line of attack for the opposition.

The killing of an anti-drug activist — precisely the kind of grassroots voice that anti-narcotics campaigns depend on — hands critics like Pilot exactly the kind of concrete, human-scale failure that abstract governance numbers never can. When activists are silenced by bullets, the political argument writes itself.

What Comes Next: Investigation, Protests, and Political Pressure

The immediate question is whether Punjab Police moves swiftly on an arrest and whether the state government responds to the family's demands publicly. Anti-drug activist groups are likely to intensify pressure on the ground, while Congress — with Pilot amplifying the case nationally — will keep it in the political spotlight. For Bhagwant Mann, the episode arrives as a test of both his administration's law-and-order credibility and its original, defining pledge to Punjab's voters.

Those who take on drug networks risk everything. The state's answer to Pilot's pointed question — 'whose responsibility is it to protect them?' — will define whether that risk finds any institutional backing.