Amritsar: After coming back from Pakistan, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu caused another consternation in Punjab Congress when he pitched for legalizing opium in the state already infamous for increasing drug addiction among youth. By some stretch of imagination Sidhu proposed this as a panacea for shifting the youth away from heroin.

Not taking kindly to the suggestion, chief minister Amarinder Singh lashed out, saying India needed a strict drugs regulation regime.
 
Singh had earlier vowed to eradicate drug from the state and made it clear that no safe havens will be given to any drug peddler. He had also reached out to neighbouring states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan to assist him in this drug war.
 
On Sunday, Sidhu, backing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Dharamvir Gandhi’s demand for legalisation of opium cultivation, said opium is better than heroin.
 
“I appreciate Gandhi for raising the demand of legalising the cultivation of opium. My uncle used to get opium as medicine from hospital. It is way better than ‘Chitta’ (heroin), which SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia introduced in the state, due to which parents have to see bodies of their children,” said the former cricketer, according to reports.
 
In 2016, Gandhi introduced a private member’s bill in Lok Sabha with the aim to legalise “non-synthetic” intoxicants like opium and marijuana.
 
In 2018, Gandhi was also a part of a farmers’ rally demanding removal of ban on cultivation of opium and marijuana.
 
Sidhu also referred to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD’s) Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who in the past had backed poppy cultivation, to validate his argument.
 
“Dhindsa’s resignation is a result of the anger in the public against the Badals and the previous Akali government,” he said, as reported by Hindustan Times.
 
Sidhu drew parallels between the former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and Dhritrashtra from Mahabharata.
 
“Badal could not see beyond his son Sukhbir, just as Dhritrashtra could not see beyond Duryodhana…The Badals and Majithia have marred the image of the state. Till they rule the SAD, the Congress will always have an upper hand as people have seen their true face,” added Sidhu, as reported by the website.