Congress accuses MP deputy CM of close links with drug racket kingpin questions PM's 'silence'

     New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) Days after a massive drug haul from a factory on the outskirts of Bhopal, the Congress on Friday alleged that a close associate of Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda is involved in drug trade in the state and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the issue.
     The opposition party demanded Devda's resignation alleging that he has links with the kingpin of the drug racket busted recently by the Gujarat Police and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Madhya Pradesh.
     Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitendra Patwari alleged that Prime Minister Modi did not provide two crore jobs every year but "created two crore drug addicts every year".
     There was no immediate reaction from the BJP or Devda on the allegations.
     Drugs in many states are linked to the racket busted in Bhopal and the Modi government is completely responsible for this, Patwari said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here.
     The Modi government had presented a report in Parliament, stating that around 40 crore people in the country consume drugs, he said.
     This number of drug addicts in the country is increasing by about 2.10 crore every year, Patwari claimed.
     The situation is such that even BJP leaders and workers are worried because their children are addicted to drugs, he said.
     "Today, the drug business is spreading throughout the country. In such a situation, what steps is the Modi government taking? A favourite of the deputy chief minister of Madhya Pradesh is running a drug racket in the state, so why is Chief Minister Mohan Yadav silent?" Patwari said.
     He said the BJP had come out with a lame defence that just because Devda had been photographed with the kingpin does not mean they were close.
     It was not about just one or two or three pictures, at least 500 photographs and videos of the kingpin with the deputy chief minister were available on social media and that cannot be a mere coincidence, Patwari said.
     The MP Congress president asked why was the BJP protecting the deputy chief minister when it had been established beyond any doubt that the kingpin was one of his closest associates.
     He urged Prime Minister Modi to sack the MP deputy chief minister. Otherwise, he said, questions will be raised on the intentions of the BJP and the central government.
     Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee media vice chairman Abhay Dubey said the BJP MLA from Mauganj had written a letter to the Inspector General of the Rewa Range demanding to stop the growing drug trade in his area.
     The situation is such that today drugs are easily available in every nook and corner of Madhya Pradesh including Bhopal, he alleged.
     Their remarks come days after authorities seized mephedrone (MD) drug valued at Rs 1,814 crore and its raw materials from a factory on the outskirts of MP capital Bhopal and arrested two persons.
     In total, 907.09 kg of mephedrone, both in solid and liquid forms, was seized in the raid and search operation was carried out jointly by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the NCB, Delhi, at the factory located in Bagroda industrial estate near Bhopal on Saturday, they said.
     This is the largest illegal factory ever busted by the Gujarat ATS. The unit had the capacity to manufacture 25 kg of the MD drug per day, the ATS said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)