Panel takes on Daresi fair contractor after stir stalls ‘dola yatra’ for 5 hrs

After a contractor of Daresi fair had attempted to commit suicide by pouring petrol on himself last night, while blaming the Aam Aadmi Party MLA, Ashok Parashar Pappi, for demanding Rs 10 lakh bribe, politicians cutting across the party lines joined him in his protest.

Politicians who joined the protest were BJP leader Gurdeep Sharma Devi, Member of Parliament from Ludhiana Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Congress leaders-cum-former MLAs Surinder Dawar and Sanjay Talwar among others. The protest which started at 5 pm continued till 11.50 pm on Saturday.

The situation escalated when members of the Shri Ramlila and Dasehra Committee, Daresi, also began a counter-protest near the venue. Their action impacted the evening’s events: The centuries-old ‘dola yatra’ — a procession carrying the idols of Lord Rama, Laxman and Sita — was halted mid-route for nearly five hours.

Contractor Ashok Kumar had said, “I took the contract for the mela arrangements in an auction organised by the committee for almost Rs 1 crore. Where am I supposed to manage this extra money from?” Kumar questioned.

Dinesh Marwaha, president of the Shri Ramlila and Dasehra Committee, expressed outrage over this and said that, “It has happened for the first time that such a religious event has faced this kind of harassment. For almost five hours, the idols of Lord Rama, Laxman and Sita on the ‘dola’ were made to wait on the road — this is unprecedented in Ludhiana’s history.”

Meanwhile, Warring got engaged in discussions with the committee members last night and subsequently spoke with Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain. Following the Deputy Commissioner’s assurance, the committee agreed to end their protest, allowing the ‘dola yatra’ to finally resume.

The MLA has already denied the corruption allegations and said he was being defamed for political reasons. “I will file defamation case against the contractor for levelling politically motivated accusations against me,” asserted the MLA.