By IANS,
New Delhi : Former Delhi High Court judge Rajinder Sachar led a civil society delegation to the Election Commission here Wednesday, seeking a ban on supply of liquor and drugs during the Punjab assembly elections campaign.
“We are neither supporting nor opposing any political party. We will oppose those supplying liquor and drugs during the campaign,” said Sachar, whose delegation included columnist Kuldip Nayar and advocate H.S. Phoolka.
“The commission officials assured that they are with us. They have inspected the area and will try to stop the distribution of liquor there,” said Nayar.
Talking to reporters here, Sachar said the civil society and media should come forward to stop drugs supply.
A seven-day campaign will be started by the civil society in Amritsar in Punjab to spread awareness amongst voters that they should not support candidates who distribute liquor and drugs as an inducement, he said.
A march will be held in two phases. The first phase will start from Jan 13 and will go on till Jan 15. The second phase will be held between Jan 20-23 in major parts of Punjab.
Justice Sachar said it was a matter of shame that Punjab has been known as the river of liquor.
“The supply of liquor should be stopped by the state government a week before polls and it should punish candidates who supply liquor and drugs during campaign,” said Sachar.
“A monitoring committee has been made in Punjab that will inspect which candidate has been supplying liquor during the campaign,” said Phoolka.
“We have been writing letters to the presidents of all political parties to make a public statement that no liquor would be supplied during the election campaign,” added Phoolka.