Punjab BJP Mahila Morcha protests against AAP govt over 'poll promise' of Rs 1,000 for women

Punjab BJP's Mahila Morcha on Saturday held a protest against the AAP government in the state for “failing” to fulfil its poll promise of giving Rs 1,000 monthly to women.

Protesters, led by Morcha president Jai Inder Kaur, tried to force their way through police barricades to gherao the Chief Minister's camp office, officials said.

Their attempts were scuttled by the Chandigarh police, who detained them later.

A heavy police force, including women cops, was deployed outside the Punjab BJP office here to stop the protesters from heading towards the Chief Minister's camp office in Chandigarh.

Addressing a gathering of protesters, Kaur said ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls, the AAP had promised to give Rs 1,000 to every woman.

No woman in the state has yet got what was promised, despite the Aam Aadmi Party nearing completion of four years in the government, she alleged.

The state government now owes Rs 45,000 to every woman, she claimed, adding that women feel “cheated”, and the government has committed a “fraud'.

Slamming the Bhagwant Mann government over the law and order in the state, Kaur also alleged that with snatching incidents happening “every day”, women were not feeling safe.

The protesting women said the AAP supremo, Arvind Kejriwal, had made the poll promise at a rally in Moga in November 2021, and the government should honour the promise.

They were holding placards saying “kado milange har mahila nu” (when will women receive it) and “jhoothian guarantees di sarkar” (the government of false guarantees).

When they were prevented from heading towards the camp office, they sat down and shouted slogans against the Punjab government.

Police then removed the protesters from the road, took them in a bus, and detained them.