Around 80 protestors were detained by police after they raised slogans and tried to gherao Kejriwal at Gandhi Chowk area, where the AAP national convener was scheduled to address a rally today. The police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse BJP workers protesting against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s visit in Batala Batala, Punjab. While some news reports suggest that so far only one person has reportedly been injured, others suggest the number could be higher.
Police said that the 80 protestors who were detained ahead of the rally were later freed after Kejriwal had addressed the gathering and left, and that BJP district president Suresh Bhatia and Municipal Council president Naresh Mahajan led the protest by their party workers.
Earlier in the day, Kejriwal visited the Golden Temple and Durgiana Mandir in Amritsar.
Talking to media in Amritsar, Kejriwal said last night he met various associations of traders who were not “happy” with the ruling government in Punjab because of “rampant corruption” in government departments. Moreover the state government had failed to “support” traders, he alleged.
In the run-up to the 2017 state elections in Punjab, the Aam Admi Party chief today started his 5-day visit to the state to kickstart the campaign. Kejriwal has been facing protests throughout his tour so far, reported the Hindustan Times. The report also suggested that here had been cases wherein the rival parties had taken away families of farm suicide victims and drug abuse victims that Kejriwal was scheduled to be meeting.
With PTI Inputs
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