BDO office relocation Nagrota Surian traders, residents stage bandh

Extending full support to the Save Development Block Sangharsh Samiti, traders of Nagrota Surian town and nearby rural areas in the Jawali Assembly constituency observed a complete bandh on Thursday. Even small vendors and chemists joined the protest, keeping their shops shut in opposition to the state government’s notification dated June 10, which announced the relocation of the 55-year-old Block Development Officer (BDO) office from Nagrota Surian to Jawali.

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Hundreds of residents from various gram panchayats under the Nagrota Surian development block joined the samiti’s protest march, which began at the tehsil office and proceeded to the BDO office. Chanting anti-government slogans, the protesters submitted a memorandum addressed to the Governor through the Tehsildar, urging intervention to halt the relocation and revoke the contentious notification.

As announced earlier, five members of the Sangharsh Samiti launched a chain hunger strike at the BDO office premises. Sanjay Mahajan, president of the samiti, along with Balbir Pathania, Ravinder Guleria, Jaswant Singh and GS Bedi, began the indefinite relay fast, with plans for five more residents to join after every 24 hours until the demand is met.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Congress workers from Nagrota Surian, led by Dr Gulshan Kumar — former senior vice-president of the Jawali Congress block and ex-general secretary of the Kangra district Congress committee — met Agriculture Minister and local MLA Chander Kumar at the PWD Rest House in Jawali. The delegation expressed the public’s deep resentment over the relocation and urged the minister to reconsider the decision. Dr Kumar told The Tribune that the minister had assured them he would raise the matter with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

Notably, Neeraj Bharti, former Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) and ex-MLA of the region, had publicly opposed the move during a meeting at Nagrota Surian on May 6. He had vowed to be the first to sit on a dharna alongside residents if such a decision were made. When contacted, Bharti — who is also the son of Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar — reiterated his opposition to the office’s relocation. He stated he would soon consult with Congress workers from the affected gram panchayats and approach the Chief Minister to seek withdrawal of the notification.