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Journalism of Courage
In Rajasthan, use of opium-based narcotics for welcoming guests on special occasions like marriage and child birth are but part of the local tradition.
However, with campaigning for the Assembly polls in full swing, narcotics have become indispensable for politicians and their campaign managers to lure voters.
Choice of drugs offered by various political parties varies from region to region but the aim is to draw people and solicit their support.
Campaign managers and party candidates agree that the phenomenon is not alien to the local culture and no different from the procedure followed in previous polls.
In Sekhawat region of the state, campaigners of a national party candidate were seen handing out Marijuana-filled smoking pots to village elders and youths alike while they wait for the candidate to arrive to the designated campaign site.
“If we do not offer such things, they will all go home and our efforts to gather them here will go to waste,” said Chak Mithai village panchayat member Lakhan Singh.
Singh and his party colleagues said they had procured three-kilo Ganja to last through the poll campaign.
Their close political rival had offered ‘Gutkha’ pouches to lure ladies, youths and elders to their campaign meets in the same village.
In Marwar region, the choice of drugs varies from Marijuana to opium-based ones and a campaign meet outside the district town of Nagaur offered ‘Amal’, a local opium variant, to men and elderly ladies.
The black sticky intoxicant would be poured directly from a small hair-oil bottle to the palm of the recipient.
Amal, the residents told PTI, is a bitter potion of opium and liquid jaggery. A 100-ml bottle costs Rs 5,000 and is generally procured from Kota or Bikaner.
“One such bottle is enough for 30 servings. This keeps the people calm,” said a campaign manager in Jodhpur.
“It also improves your concentration and has a positive bearing in your overall well-being. We mix this in milk and serve it to children as well to keep them energetic,” said Pemaram, a farmer from Bhimgarh village.
Evening offerings at the campaigns here also include ‘Doda’, a sleep-inducing powdered mixture. In villages around Jodhpur, licensed Doda shops remain open till late night.
“Doda sells for Rs 400 a kilo and we are doing business worth Rs 10,000 everyday for the last five days,” a Doda seller in Gothan village of Jodhpur district said.
Though the regional office of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is not based in Jodhpur, the agency claims no big seizure of the contraband was made in the recent few weeks.
“There had been many seizures earlier this month. Opium-based products are generally brought here from across the border areas of Madhya Pradesh. We have identified these points and sealed the border accordingly,” said B L Naik NCB’s zonal director in Jodhpur.
