Speaking in Moga as part of an 11-district Punjab tour, Congress leader Sachin Pilot demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann resign on ethical grounds, holding his government responsible for a drug crisis that continues to kill — most recently, activist Parminder Singh Jhota in Mansa on October 13.

The BJP got there first

Pilot was not the first to make the demand. BJP leader Kewal Singh Dhillon had called for Mann's resignation on October 13 — the day Jhota was shot dead — and from October 18, Dhillon has begun wearing a black turban as a mark of protest, a signal meant to be read across Punjab's villages.

Eleven districts, one charge

Pilot's tour runs through Moga, Bathinda, Mansa, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran and Amritsar. The Congress charge, voiced by new Punjab Congress chief Pargat Singh — who took charge on October 2 — is that the Mann government and the Punjab Police are shielding drug peddlers. That is an accusation by the opposition; Awaaz Punjab labels it as such.

AAP's counter

The government's answer is an enforcement promise: Mann has announced a 60-day anti-drug strategy targeting 435 identified hotspots. AAP's national leadership has gone on the attack in return — Arvind Kejriwal has accused the BJP of colluding with the chitta trade. That, too, is an accusation, traded blow for blow, and neither side's collusion charge has been established by any investigation in the public record.

Compiled from published reports and party statements, 13–18 October 2026. The resignation demands are politics; the 435 hotspots are a promise with a clock on it. Awaaz Punjab will report what the 60 days actually deliver.