Punjab, Haryana Congress protest against price rise, unemployment; see pics

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana units of the Congress staged protests in Chandigarh on Friday on the call of the party’s nationwide stir against price rise, unemployment and the GST hike on essential items.

Chandigarh is the joint capital of the two states where Congress is the main opposition party.

Led by the party Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, the Punjab Congress unit staged a protest while in Haryana, the protest was led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress president Udai Bhan. Several MLAs of the two states also participated in the protests.

They raised slogans against the Central government and marched towards the Governor houses of the two states.

The police used water cannon to prevent the Punjab unit leaders and workers from marching to the Punjab Raj Bhavan and were briefly detained.

Likewise, when the Haryana Congress leaders and workers tried to take out a march from the state Congress office to the State Governor house, they were stopped by the Chandigarh police and briefly detained.

The Punjab Congress leaders said they wanted to submit a memorandum to the Governor on the issues on which they were staging the protest, while Hooda said inflation and unemployment had made life difficult for poor and middle class. The state unit president Udai Bhan alleged that the BJP government imposed undeclared emergency in the country and made a mockery of constitutional institutions.