Chandigarh, Jul 22 (PTI) The Congress and BJP held separate protests here over the opposition dharna outside the prime minister’s residence and the youth protest associated with Punjab Police detaining leaders of both parties.
Punjab BJP leaders were detained when they were heading towards the office of the state Congress unit to gherao it on Wednesday.
Police had erected barricades here to prevent the BJP leaders and workers from moving towards the Punjab Congress headquarters located in Sector 15 here.
Led by Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon, the BJP leaders and workers, carrying BJP flags, were raising slogans against the Congress for holding a protest outside the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking to reporters, Punjab BJP chief Dhillon condemned the Congress for holding a protest outside the PM residence.
He said several paper leaks took place during the previous UPA regime and accused the Congress of never doing anything in this regard. “Where was the Congress at that time,” he asked.
When the BJP workers and leaders were attempting to go towards the Congress office, police detained them briefly and took them away in the buses.
Besides Dhillon, several state BJP leaders including Parminder Singh Brar, Pritpal Singh Balliawal, Sanjeev Vashisht and Vineet Joshi took part in the protest.
The Congress also held a protest against the BJP over the issue of paper leaks and the detention of its leaders following the dharna by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leaders such as Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra outside the PM’s residence on Tuesday.
Congress workers sought the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and condemned the police action against youths participating the Parliament march on Monday. Later Congress workers were also detained by police.
Thousands of youth, many of them students, converged near Parliament in Delhi on the first day of the Monsoon session on Monday to push for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over irregularities in competitive exams. Police used lathi-charge and teargas shells to stop the protesters. PTI CHS SKY SKY
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