{"id":60914,"date":"2026-02-24T20:32:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/?p=60914"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:32:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:02:41","slug":"from-patronage-to-pretence-badals-who-enabled-gangsters-and-drug-traffickers-now-float-terrorist-label-to-mislead-punjab-baltej-pannu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/from-patronage-to-pretence-badals-who-enabled-gangsters-and-drug-traffickers-now-float-terrorist-label-to-mislead-punjab-baltej-pannu\/","title":{"rendered":"From Patronage to Pretence: Badals Who Enabled Gangsters and Drug Traffickers Now Float &#8216;Terrorist&#8217; Label to Mislead Punjab: Baltej Pannu"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Mann Government Fighting the Real War Against Drugs; Punjabis Haven\u2019t Forgotten the Dark Decade of 2007\u20132017: Baltej Pannu<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Punjab E News:<\/span> Aam Aadmi Party Punjab\u2019s Media Incharge Baltej Pannu reacted sharply to the statement given by Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal about declaring gangsters and drug smugglers as terrorists. He said that those who themselves spread gangsterism and the poison of \u2018chitta\u2019 in Punjab are now talking about a clean-up campaign. This is hypocrisy.<\/p>\n<p>Baltej Pannu said that Sukhbir Singh Badal is today announcing that if his government is formed, in the very first Cabinet meeting they will bring a strict law against gangsters and drug traffickers and declare them terrorists. Responding, Pannu said, \u201cSukhbir ji, first tell us who brought the gangsters, who brought chitta?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The AAP leader recalled that before the Akali-BJP government was formed in 2007, neither did anyone know about gangsters in Punjab, nor had anyone heard the name of &#8216;chitta&#8217;. He said that those involved in chitta whose links with gangsters flourished during the Badal government\u2019s tenure, does Sukhbir Badal have the courage to declare them terrorists as well?<\/p>\n<p>Pannu remarked sarcastically, \u201cSukhbir Badal\u2019s statement is exactly like the Taliban saying, \u2018Let\u2019s take out a candle march for peace.\u2019\u201d He said that during the ten years from 2007 to 2017, the Badal government pushed Punjab into the quagmire of drugs and patronized gangsterism. Punjabis have not forgotten that dark period.<\/p>\n<p>The AAP Media Incharge said that, in contrast, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Aam Aadmi Party government is truly fighting a war against drugs and tightening the noose around gangsters. Pannu said, \u201cTo fight such a war, one needs willpower. The Badal government never had it. That is why they pushed Punjab toward devastation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mann Government Fighting the Real War Against Drugs; Punjabis Haven\u2019t Forgotten the Dark Decade of 2007\u20132017: Baltej Pannu Punjab E News: Aam Aadmi Party Punjab\u2019s Media Incharge Baltej Pannu reacted sharply to the statement given by Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal about declaring gangsters and drug smugglers as terrorists. He said that those [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":57096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-political-news","category-punjab"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>From Patronage to Pretence: Badals Who Enabled Gangsters and Drug Traffickers Now Float &#039;Terrorist&#039; Label to Mislead Punjab: Baltej Pannu - PunjabENews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/from-patronage-to-pretence-badals-who-enabled-gangsters-and-drug-traffickers-now-float-terrorist-label-to-mislead-punjab-baltej-pannu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Patronage to Pretence: Badals Who Enabled Gangsters and Drug Traffickers Now Float &#039;Terrorist&#039; Label to Mislead Punjab: Baltej Pannu - PunjabENews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mann Government Fighting the Real War Against Drugs; Punjabis Haven\u2019t Forgotten the Dark Decade of 2007\u20132017: Baltej Pannu Punjab E News: Aam Aadmi Party Punjab\u2019s Media Incharge Baltej Pannu reacted sharply to the statement given by Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal about declaring gangsters and drug smugglers as terrorists. 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