The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has launched a protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central Government over the arrest of Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The situation turned tense outside the BJP office in Ludhiana when AAP and BJP workers came face to face during the protest in Ludhiana. Leaders from both parties raised slogans against each other.
The BJP workers also threw brooms at the AAP workers during the protest.
A BJP worker got injury on his hand during the demonstration.
Women workers of AAP also participated in large numbers in the protest. Senior BJP leaders, including state general secretary Anil Sarin, district president Rajneesh Dhiman and Parveen Bansal were also present. At Dana Mandi, Gill Road, in Ludhiana, AAP workers burnt the effigy of the BJP and Enforcement Directorate to protest against ED raids in Punjab ahead of the Assembly elections.
The police force in a large number was deployed to tackle any untoward situation. When AAP workers tried to barge into the office of the BJP, the saffron party workers carrying flags also raised slogans against Kejriwal outside the office.
Jatinder Khangura, president of AAP, Ludhiana Urban, and Chairman of the Planning and Finance Committee, condemned the action by central agencies. He alleged that the Central Government was misusing the ED to suppress the voices of opposition leaders. He said Sanjeev Arora’s arrest was illegal and tantamount to the murder of democracy.
Khangura alleged that during the protest, BJP workers indulged in hooliganism and attempted to manhandle AAP workers. The AAP leadership said the dictatorship of the BJP would not be tolerated. The party would fight this battle through legal and democratic means.
Chief cashier of the state BJP and senior leader Gurdev Debi Sharma, also launched a scathing attack on the AAP government and its leadership, holding corruption, false promises and poor governance responsible for AAP’s debacle.
Punjab BJP spokesperson Kamaljeet Soi condemned the attack carried out by the AAP workers at the party office. Dr Soi said the attack was not merely an assault on party workers but a direct one on democracy, law and order and the peaceful fabric of Punjab.
In ‘befitting reply’, BJP to lock CP’s office today
BJP district president Rajnish Dhiman condemned the attack on party workers by AAP and raised serious questions over the law and order situation in the city. He termed allegations being levelled by AAP as baseless and politically motivated. Dhiman said the ED had arrested Sanjeev Arora only after finding substance in allegations against him. “What is the fault of BJP leaders in the same? AAP is targeting the BJP only to divert public attention from its failed governance, deteriorating law and order and rising corruption,” he alleged.
“The party workers will give a befitting and democratic reply to the false allegations and will reach out to the people to expose the truth,” he said.
He announced that the BJP would gherao the office of the CP on Monday and lock the premises. He also criticised the administration for its inaction in the entire episode.
Dhiman demanded an impartial probe into the matter without any political pressure and action against the guilty.
The BJP leader said the AAP government’s attitude was aptly described by the idiom ‘Ek to chori upar se seena zori’ (committing a mistake and then acting arrogant).
