AAP protests over ED action against Arora; tensions flare in Ludhiana, SBS Nagar, Bathinda

The AAP held anti-BJP protests across Punjab on Sunday over the ED action against state minister Sanjeev Arora, accusing the Centre of misusing agencies against its leaders, while the saffron party slammed the workers of the ruling outfit for their unruly behaviour. Tension prevailed at a few places when workers of the Aam Aadmi Party AAP and Bharatiya Janata Party BJP came face to face, prompting police to intervene.

The AAP held anti-BJP protests across Punjab on Sunday over the ED action against state minister Sanjeev Arora, accusing the Centre of misusing agencies against its leaders, while the saffron party slammed the workers of the ruling outfit for their ''unruly behaviour.'' Tension prevailed at a few places when workers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came face to face, prompting police to intervene. In Ludhiana, a scuffle broke out between AAP and BJP workers during a protest outside the saffron party's district office near the grain market on Gill Road. In Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district's Balachaur, the BJP accused rebel Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Sukwinder Kumar Sukhi, who is now with the AAP, of indulging in ''hooliganism'' and demanded the registration of a case against him. Sukhi rejected the allegation, saying he had only objected to BJP district president Rajwinder Lucky calling the protesters ''chor'' (thieves). AAP's protests came a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Punjab Industries Minister Arora in connection with an alleged Rs 100-crore GST fraud-related money-laundering case involving certain entities linked to him. Arora, 62, was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following a raid at his official residence in Chandigarh's Sector 2 on Saturday morning. While the AAP dubbed the ED raid at Arora's residence and his subsequent arrest politically-motivated acts, Hampton Sky Realty Limited, in which the Punjab minister served as a director, said the company has faith in the legal process and is fully cooperating with all the statutory authorities and will continue to do so. Arora's arrest has triggered a fresh political confrontation between the AAP and the BJP. The ruling party in Punjab had given a call to ''gherao'' BJP offices across the state. Leaders and volunteers of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party burnt effigies of the BJP-led Centre and raised slogans against it. They also carried placards that read ''ED-BJP gathjod murdabad'' (down with the ED-BJP nexus). The protests were held in districts, including Hoshiarpur, Patiala and Mohali, where AAP leaders accused the BJP of using investigative agencies as ''political weapons'' to intimidate elected governments and silence opposition voices. Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma strongly criticised the ''unruly'' behaviour of AAP workers and accused the state police of acting under political pressure while facilitating ''hooliganism'' against party workers. Talking to reporters in Chandigarh, Sharma warned that the BJP would not tolerate political intimidation or a misuse of the police machinery. Accompanied by Punjab BJP media head Vineet Joshi, Sharma launched a sharp attack on the AAP government, accusing it of misusing the state machinery, weakening democratic institutions and attempting to divert public attention from corruption allegations against the ruling party's leaders. In Ludhiana, a scuffle broke out between AAP and BJP workers during a protest outside the saffron party's district office. AAP workers were protesting against Arora's arrest near the BJP office when the workers of the saffron party arrived at the spot and staged a counter-protest. The situation escalated into a scuffle between both sides, giving a tough time to police. Punjab BJP general secretary Anil Sareen alleged that the AAP workers ''attacked'' the activists of the opposition party, leaving four of them injured. During the protest, the AAP workers burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In response, the workers of the saffron party burnt effigies of AAP national convenor Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, BJP district president Rajnish Dhiman said. Condemning the role of police personnel, Dhiman alleged that they acted like AAP activists. In Bathinda also, AAP and BJP workers came face to face. Police personnel in large numbers were deployed during the AAP's protest and they formed a human chain to avoid a clash. Participating in a protest in Jalandhar, Punjab minister Mohinder Bhagat condemned the ED action against Arora and slammed the Centre for indulging in ''high-handedness'' against AAP leaders. He accused the Centre of deploying all kinds of tactics to stop Punjab's progress. ''It is misusing the ED only against AAP leaders by conducting raids at their premises. It clearly shows that the Centre is indulging in high-handedness. Punjabis never tolerate the high-handedness of anyone,'' Bhagat told reporters. In Hoshiarpur, AAP workers, led by the party's district rural president Gurwinder Singh Pabla, gathered outside a BJP office at the Shastri Market and raised slogans against the Centre and the ED. AAP MLA Brahm Shankar Jimpa alleged that federal agencies, such as the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), are being misused to target opposition parties. He claimed that when the AAP was in power in Delhi, its leaders were repeatedly targeted through central agencies and alleged that similar attempts are now being made in Punjab.