A massive protest broke out outside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Sangrur while the CM is in Gujarat campaigning for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The farm workers and the trade unions were holding a protest demanding a hike in their minimum daily wage to Rs 700 under MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005).
While visuals showed police resorting to lathi-charge to push back the protesting farmers, cops later denied the same and said the protest was going on peacefully.
Punjab Police, however, said that the cops “controlled” an aggressive faction of protesters that had entered the demonstration.
“No lathicharge was done, and the protest is going on in a peaceful manner. An aggressive faction of protestors indulged in a scuffle, which was later controlled by the police. We have taken cognizance of their demands,” Sangrur SSP said.
The protest, which turned into a battleground, had started on Wednesday morning. The protesters started to march towards Bhagwant Mann’s residence around 3 pm. When the crowd almost reached the location, cops made an effort to disburse them from the spot. The farmers had earlier held a 19-day protest against the issue in October but agreed to withdraw it when the government accepted their demands.
The farmers and trade unions were reportedly protesting under the flag of Sanjha Mazdoor Morcha, a joint front of eight labour unions and had gathered in huge numbers near Patiala – Bathinda road in Sangrur in the morning and later around 3pm, followed by a march towards the chief minister’s rented accommodation in the city.
The AAP claimed that Wednesday’s protests were backed by the BJP. AAP claimed that BJP is under pressure of the AAP campaign in the state and this was a way of hitting back.
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