LUDHIANA: A Punjab minister on Sunday sparked a controversy by suggesting that there should be a mandatory "dope test" for politicians contesting elections, saying it was an essential measure to curb drug menace plaguing the state.
"The dope test should be made mandatory by the Election Commission," Punjab agriculture minister Tota Singh told reporters here, adding, "All politicians should be made to undergo dope test before filing their nomination papers."
Widespread drug abuse, apart from being a matter of social concern, has also acquired political dimensions with both the BJP and Congress flagging the issue.
In its drive against drugs, Punjab government has seized huge quantities of heroin, opium, poppy husk, synthetic drugs from smugglers in the state to deal with the problem which, many political parties and people from different walks of life feel, has reached alarming proportions.
The Punjab minister said dope test was an "essential" step for "controlling" the drug menace.
Singh, a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) veteran, said, "if all players, including the top one, could be made to undergo dope test before start of a match, why could it not be made mandatory for political leaders" contesting elections.
Earlier, in his 'Mann Ki Baat' programme on radio, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said drug menace is a "national pain".
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had claimed that 70 per cent of youths in the state were into drugs.
Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has acknowledged that the drug menace has destroyed many families and said his government was had mounted an all out war against it.
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