Chandigarh cops use water cannons to disperse Cong workers, leaders

Chandigarh, January 15

The police today used water cannons to disperse local Congress leaders and workers who tried to gherao the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh under the “Chalo Raj Bhawan” call given by the Congress to protest against the farm laws.

The protesters were joined by AICC treasurer and former Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Chandigarh Congress president Pardeep Chhabra. All former mayors from the Chandigarh Congress, leader of Opposition and Congress councillors in the MC, Mahila Congress and Youth Congress president and all Congress frontal organisation chiefs were present in the protest march along with their workers.

Bansal said: “The way the Modi government and BJP leaders were behaving in an indifferent and arrogant manner shows that we are moving towards dangerous times for democracy and it is the duty of every patriotic Indian to rise up and be the voice of farmers”.

Chhabra said the Congress had been raising the issues of farmers and their concerns on various platforms for the past several months. The party would not give up until the demands of farmers were met with and these draconian farm bills were repealed.

Hundreds of Congress workers joined the protest march and started moving to gherao the Raj Bhawan. The police set up barricade and used force and water cannons to stop and disperse the marching Congress workers.

In a statement, the party stated that nearly 200 Congress workers were detained till evening. — TNS