India

Navjot Singh Sidhu supports opium legalisation, says, ‘Way better than Heroin’

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Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu supported Aam Aadmi Party MP from Patiala Dharamvira Gandhi’s bid for legalising cultivation, sale and consumption of opium and its by-product poppy husk in the state.

He voiced his support during the sidelines of a function organised by the Noble Foundation, an NGO, in the city on Sunday.

“I appreciate Gandhi for raising the demand of legalising the cultivation of opium. My uncle used to get opium as medicine from hospital. It is way better than ‘Chitta’ (heroin), which SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia introduced in the state, due to which parents have to see bodies of their children,” said Sidhu.

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To a query on whether petrol and diesel needed to be brought under the Goods and Services (GST) tax regime, he added, “The Union government is not decreasing the prices of fuel, even when the rates of crude oil are lower in the international market in comparison to the levels seen during former PM Manmohan Singh’s tenure. If brought under the GST, rates will come down to around ₹45 a litre.”

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