Chhattisgarh: Cops use tear gas, resort to lathicharge to stop BJP workers from laying siege to Assembly premises during PMAY protest

Police fired tear gas shells, used water cannons and resorted to lathicharge as several BJP workers and others tried to gherao the Chhattisgarh Assembly building here on Wednesday alleging ''poor'' implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) by the Bhupesh Baghel government.

Several BJP workers were detained when they tried to reach the Vidhansabha building.

Heavy deployment of police personnel on various roads leading to the Assembly ensured that protesters couldn't reach the destination in large numbers. Roads to the Assembly were barricaded with big metal sheets and container trucks at several places and drones were used by the police to keep an eye on protestors.

When a group comprising more than 100 workers of BJP and leaders managed to reach the barricade placed near the Assembly building after crossing another barricade, police fired tear gas shells, used water cannons and resorted to lathicharge.

The protestors were put in several buses and taken away from the spot.

Chhattisgarh BJP president Arun Sao, MLA Brijmohan Agrawal, and some other senior leaders were among those who were detained.

Police officials did not confirm the exact number of detainees but said all of them were released later.

Agrawal claimed more than 100 party workers sustained injuries in the police action during the 'Mor Awas, Mor Adhikar' (my house my right) protest. ''This shows the Bhupesh Baghel government is behaving like a dictator," he said.

The BJP leader claimed the party workers and others managed to reach the Assembly gate even though police used force and barricaded roads with heavy metal sheets and container trucks. ''Around 20 lakh beneficiaries are deprived of houses under the PMAY scheme due to negligence of the Congress government,'' Agrawal alleged.

Earlier in the day, addressing a massive gathering of party workers near Kachna village located on the way to the Assembly, state BJP chief Arun Sao hit out at the state government, calling it "anti-people" and "anti-poor".

"This is a fight for the rights of the poor and against injustice and tyranny. As a result of the Congress government's failure, lakhs of poor people are deprived of the Prime Minister Awas Yojana in Chhattisgarh," he said.

Calling the Congress government "deaf and dumb", Sao said BJP stands with the beneficiaries of the housing scheme and will continue to fight for them.

Former chief minister Raman Singh, BJP's state in-charge Om Mathur, and senior leaders also joined the demonstration.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)