AAP protests Kejriwal's arrest in Punjab, Haryana; water cannons, lathicharge against protestors

The Punjab and Haryana units of the AAP staged protests against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest as police used water cannons and lathicharged the protestors who tried to gherao Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini’s residence in Kurukshetra. Following Kejriwal's arrest Thursday evening, the AAP had given a nationwide call for protest against the BJP.

AAP workers raised slogans against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in several cities and said the saffron party was against the “growing popularity” of Kejriwal.

In Haryana's Kurukshetra, AAP workers staged a demonstration near the residence of Chief Minister Saini.

As AAP workers tried to gherao the CM's residence by breaching the barricades set up there, police lathicharged them and used water cannons to stop them.

At the protest site in Punjab's Mohali, AAP workers said some of them were injured when water cannon was used.

Sukhjinder Singh, AAP worker from Patti in Punjab's Tarn Taran district, said he had sustained an injury in his left eye.

''When we tried to enter Chandigarh, the police there stopped us at the barricades which had been set up. They used water cannons and I sustained injury in my left eye. I also sustained bruises on my arms as police prevented us from marching ahead,'' he said.

Punjab Minister Aman Arora, who was present at the protest site in Mohali, dubbed Kejriwal's arrest is murder of democracy.

BJP will face backlash from the country's people for this, Arora told PTI.

He said AAP workers wanted to move towards the Punjab BJP office in Chandigarh when water cannons were used against them and they were stopped.

AAP workers in Mohali tried to enter Chandigarh in a bid to march towards the Punjab BJP office there. Police used water cannons to stop them.

Punjab ministers Maan and Chetan Singh Jouramajra slammed the central government over Kejriwal’s arrest, saying it was scared of his “growing popularity” and therefore wanted to stop the ''good works'' done by his Delhi government.

Later, the AAP workers in presence of some Punjab ministers staged a demonstration on the Mohali-Chandigarh border.

Speaking to reporters, Jouramajra said, ''What Kejriwal is doing for Delhi and Punjab, the BJP by arresting him wants to stop him from replicating this good work in other states.” “There is anger among people of Punjab and the rest of the country. If they arrest one Kejriwal, there will be lakhs of Kejriwals on roads who will raise their voice,” he said.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday night in an excise policy-linked money laundering case in Delhi.

Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann slammed Kejriwal’s arrest, saying the Centre can put him in a prison but “cannot imprison his thinking”.

Mann said the AAP will stand like a rock behind Kejriwal.

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