Amit Shah to address Jalandhar rally as BJP's Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra concludes
Synopsis
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced he will address the closing rally of the BJP's Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra in Jalandhar on 30 September 2026, blaming the AAP-led Punjab government for the state's drug crisis and pledging to meet affected families.
Key Takeaways
Amit Shah will address a public gathering in Jalandhar on 30 September 2026 to mark the conclusion of the Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra .
The BJP yatra was launched on 18 September and travelled across Punjab's villages carrying an anti-drug awareness message.
Shah accused the Aam Aadmi Party state government of presiding over a 'serious drug crisis' through what he called misrule.
Shah also announced he will personally meet families affected by drug abuse during the Jalandhar event.
Punjab's drug problem has been a central political issue since the 2022 assembly elections , when AAP promised a drug-free state.
A yatra that wound through Punjab's villages for nearly two weeks reaches its finale today — and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is the one closing it out, in Jalandhar, on 30 September 2026. Shah announced he will address the people of Punjab at the conclusion of the BJP's Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra (Drug-Free Punjab March) and personally meet families devastated by drug abuse.
In his post, Shah framed the campaign as a direct response to what he called the 'AAP-da government's misrule,' accusing the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab of presiding over a 'serious drug crisis.' The yatra, he said, was launched on 18 September with the explicit goal of carrying an anti-drug awareness message to every village in the state and drawing Punjab's youth into the fight.
Punjab's drug crisis as political battleground
Drug abuse has shadowed Punjab for well over a decade, cutting across governments of every stripe. The issue surged to the centre of the 2022 Punjab assembly elections, with the Aam Aadmi Party — which swept to power that year — explicitly promising a drug-free state in its manifesto. Four years on, the BJP is using the unfulfilled promise as the sharpest edge of its opposition campaign in the state.
The Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra follows a well-worn opposition playbook: take the fight to the ground, village by village, and build a visible people's movement around a governance failure the ruling party cannot easily dismiss. For the BJP, which holds no power in Punjab, grassroots yatras are among the few levers it can pull directly.
What Shah plans to do in Jalandhar today
Beyond the public address, Shah specifically mentioned meeting nasha se peedit parivaron — families suffering from drug addiction. That detail matters. It signals an attempt to move the campaign from political rhetoric to human testimony, putting real faces to a crisis that statistics alone cannot convey.
Jalandhar, one of Punjab's largest cities and a historically significant political hub, gives the closing event maximum visibility. The choice of venue also keeps the yatra's conclusion squarely in the urban public eye as the BJP looks to build narrative momentum ahead of future electoral contests in the state.
Whether the Punjab government responds to the pressure — or whether the yatra's grassroots energy translates into durable political capital for the BJP — will be the real test of what these twelve days on the road have actually built.
Point of View
Amit Shah elevates it from a state-party exercise to a national leadership statement on Punjab. The decision to meet drug-affected families is a deliberate humanising move, designed to counter any narrative that the BJP's concern is purely electoral. With no assembly election immediately on the horizon, the BJP is playing a longer game: embedding itself in Punjab's rural consciousness on an issue no government has cleanly solved.
NationPress
30 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra?
The Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra is a BJP-organised public awareness campaign launched on 18 September 2026 to highlight Punjab's drug crisis, travelling village-to-village across the state before concluding in Jalandhar on 30 September.
Why is Amit Shah going to Jalandhar on 30 September 2026?
Amit Shah is attending the closing rally of the BJP's Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra in Jalandhar, where he will address the public and meet families affected by drug abuse in the state.
What is the BJP's criticism of the AAP government on drugs in Punjab?
The BJP accuses the AAP-led Punjab government of failing to control drug abuse despite its 2022 election promise of a drug-free state, calling the situation a 'serious crisis' caused by misrule.
Has Punjab's drug problem been a political issue before?
Yes. Punjab's drug crisis has been a major political issue since the 2010s, featuring prominently in multiple state election cycles including the 2022 assembly elections when AAP made a drug-free Punjab a central campaign promise.
What will Amit Shah do beyond the public address in Jalandhar?
Beyond addressing the public rally, Shah announced he will personally meet families in Punjab who have been affected by drug addiction.
