SAD-BJP MLAs on Tuesday braved water canons, lathis by the Chandigarh Police while marching towards the Punjab Assembly to register their protest even as the turbans of senior leaders were tossed.
The senior SAD and BJP leaders, including SAD chief Sukhbir Badal and BJP state president Vijay Sampla surrendered, and detained by the police. SAD leader Bikram Majithia too courted arrest.
The protesters hurled bricks at the police forces and the turbans of both Sukhbir Badal and Majithia were tossed in the mêlée. The police had resorted to using water canons on Akali Dal workers in a bid to disperse the crowd.
Boycotting the Governor’s address in the Punjab assembly on Tuesday morning, the SAD-BJP had staged a dharna in Chandigarh, where former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, was also present along with the entire state leadership of the SAD and BJP.
Sukhbir planned the protest to pressurise the Punjab government to bring in a complete loan-waiver scheme for farmers, farm labourers and the Dalits.
Sukhbir, earlier addressing the rally, lashed out at the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh saying that he was scared of the wrath of the farmers as he had failed to keep the promises made to them.
The protest rally was organised by the SAD-BJP against the Congress government over its alleged failure to implement the farm loan waiver and its alleged efforts to stop subsidised power to the agricultural sector.
Sukhbir said all social security pensions besides the insurance scheme for farmers has been stopped; and now efforts were on to start charging them for power used in the agricultural sector. Sukhbir accused Capt Amarinder of being inaccessible to people.
He also attacked his estranged cousin and state Finance Minister Manpreet Badal alleging that the Congress government had been unable to manage finances. He took a dig at the Chief Minister and Manpreet for “crying” continuously about the “state treasury being empty” claiming that after implementation of the GST, the state has got Rs 6,500 crore more funds that previous year.