BJP Rajya Sabha MP and former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has responded after Punjab Police fact-checked a viral video he previously shared while raising concerns about Punjab’s drug problem. Police said the original footage, which appeared to show two men in an intoxicated state, was actually from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan and cautioned against identifying the location of incidents solely from the language heard in videos.
Singh subsequently shared another video posted by BJP Punjab and questioned whether that footage was also from Rajasthan. He argued that the controversy surrounding the location of the first clip should not distract from concerns about drug addiction in Punjab and accused critics of attempting to divert attention from the broader issue.
The former cricketer said his comments were not intended to target any particular person or political group and called for greater efforts to help people struggling with addiction. He urged the Punjab government to focus on making the state drug-free rather than engaging in political blame games.
The exchange has intensified the political confrontation between the BJP and Punjab’s AAP government. Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema accused the BJP of circulating misleading videos to damage Punjab’s image, while AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal questioned whether the earlier video was part of a coordinated political campaign.
