New Delhi: Tension prevailed outside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office near Mittal Mall in Bathinda on Sunday afternoon when the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activists staged rival protests and came face-to-face over the money laundering case involving Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from Chandigarh yesterday.
BJP activists demanded the resignation of Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora and Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on moral grounds.
At the same time, AAP workers, led by party MLAs, also reached the spot, leading to a tense face-off between the two groups.
Police personnel deployed at the scene intervened promptly and formed a human chain to prevent any clash.
SP (City) Narinder Singh and two DSPs Amritpal Singh Bhaati and Arun Mundan were present to monitor the situation and maintain law and order.
The BJP workers, led by former MLA and party’s Bathinda district (Urban) president Sarup Chand Singla, later returned to the party office but continued their protest outside the premises. They raised slogans against the AAP government, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora.
On the other hand, AAP activists raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused the BJP of being anti-Punjab. They also alleged that the ED was being used as a political tool.
Prominent AAP leaders present during the protest included MLAs Jagroop Singh Gill, Balkar Sidhu, Jagsir Singh and Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana; former Mayor Padamjeet Mehta, along with the party’s Bathinda Lok Sabha in-charge Navdeep Jeeda and district president Jatinder Bhalla.
Till the filing of this report, a heavy police presence remained deployed in the area to avoid any untoward incident.
Notably, the AAP had given a call to stage protests outside BJP offices across all districts of the state today.
Police try to control the situation outside the BJP office in Bathinda on Sunday.
