India, Jan. 22 -- Senior Congress leader, Chandigarh MP and former Union minister Manish Tewari on Wednesday said that the return of the Congress to power was crucial to safeguard Punjab's future and pull the state out of a deepening crisis marked by the drug menace, deteriorating law and order and a widening governance deficit.

Addressing a programme organised by Trade Union president Swarn Singh at Guru Amardas Nagar here, Tewari said Punjab's decline was visible on every front.

"Once among the country's leading states, Punjab today is struggling with rising crime, rampant drug abuse and a serious development slowdown. Only the Congress has the experience and vision to restore stability and put the state back on the path of progress,"...