High drama was witnessed during an INLD protest led by Rania MLA Arjun Chautala against rising prices of petrol, diesel, CNG and LPG when he engaged in a heated argument with Rohtak SP Gaurav Rajpurohit at the Mini Secretariat on Monday.
The protesters gathered to submit a memorandum to the PM through the district administration. They insisted that DC Sachin Gupta personally receive the memorandum. However, Gupta was reportedly attending an official training programme and deputed SDM Ashish Kumar to receive it.
The protesters refused to hand it over to any official other than the DC and staged a dharna, blocking the road outside the Mini Secretariat, which led to traffic disruption.
The situation escalated when the DC arrived with the SP to receive the memorandum, and Chautala took a dig at the DC. When the SP intervened, the MLA reacted sharply, saying, “Mujhe yeh mat batayiye ki mujhe kya bolna hai. Main apne hisab se bolunga. Hum kaafi der se yahan baithe huye hain….Pahli baat, main aapse baat nahi kar raha… Aap apni duty kijiye…” Then, other police officers intervened to calm the situation.
Earlier, the protesters took out a march and raised slogans against the BJP government. They waited for the DC and later went inside insisting on meeting him, but police did not allow access. Later, the SDM arrived to receive the memorandum, but the protesters refused to hand it over.
Earlier, Chautala said inflation had made life difficult for people and accused the BJP government of failure on all fronts. He also targeted the Congress, alleging that it was disconnected from public issues and practiced politics from air-conditioned rooms, while INLD worked on the streets for people.
An officer on condition of anonymity claimed the protesters were informed in advance about the DC’s engagement and the SDM’s authorisation to receive the memorandum.
