Chandigarh grenade attack sparks BJP protest march in Jalandhar
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jalandhar Urban on Thursday organised a large march against the Punjab Government, following a recent grenade blast in Chandigarh. The procession moved from Sri Ram Chowk – Company Bagh to Bhagwan Valmiki Chowk – Jyoti Chowk, with hundreds of party workers.
During the march, party leaders criticised the governance of the Punjab Administration led by CM Bhagwant Mann, calling it a failure in light of recent incidents, including the grenade attack outside the BJP headquarters in Sector 37, Chandigarh.
Alleging a collapse of law and order in the state, BJP leaders carried black boards and posters with slogans such as “Dar ate dehshat di rajneeti nahi chalegi” (politics of fear and terror won’t work), “Vakhwadi taaktan murdabad” (down with divisive forces), and “Aman Shanti de duhmanan nu benakaab karo” (expose the enemies of peace and quiet). They marched chanting slogans against the state government.
Party leaders described the grenade attack as unfortunate but noted that it hit the outer wall of the office, causing no casualties, though some parked vehicles were damaged.
BJP National Executive member Manoranjan Kalia; State General Secretary Rakesh Rathore; Former Parliamentary Secretary and State Vice President KD Bhandari; Former Chief Parliamentary Secretary MLA Avinash Chandra Kaler; Former MLAs Sheetal Angural and Jagbir Brar; and leaders Sarabjit Makkar, Karmajeet Kaur Chaudhary, Anil Sachar, Former District President Raman Pabbi, Vipan Sabharwal, Diwan Amit Arora, and District General Secretary Ashok Sarin Hikki were present.
Manoranjan Kalia said, “First there were continuous grenade attacks on police stations in Punjab, then Baba Saheb Dr BR Ambedkar’s statue was vandalised, and yesterday the state-level BJP office in Chandigarh was attacked. This series of events indicates attempts to break the communal unity of the state.”
Rakesh Rathore added, “The government of this border state has failed to prevent these incidents. As a result, Punjab’s deteriorating law-and-order situation is now affecting Chandigarh.”
KD Bhandari remarked, “Following the historic BJP rally led by the country’s Home Minister Amit Shah, opponents are unsettled by the party’s rapid rise in Punjab.”
Former MLA Sheetal Angural said, “Divisive forces in the state panicked, and the grenade attack was a result of this panic.”
Leaders Avinash Chander, Jagbir Singh Brar, and Karmajit Kaur Chaudhary emphasised that the BJP would not allow social harmony, brotherhood and peace in the state to be disrupted. Other leaders present included Manish Vij, Ashwini Bhandari, Amit Bhatia, Hitesh Syal, Sanjeev Sharma Mani, Harjinder Singh Babu Arora, and Ravinder Dhir.
