BATHINDA, May 10 — Significant tension erupted outside the Bharatiya Janata Party office on Sunday as activists from both the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP engaged in a heated face-off. The confrontation follows the recent arrest of Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
The BJP activists, led by Bathinda district president Sarup Chand Singla, demanded the immediate resignation of both Arora and Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on moral grounds. In response, a large contingent of AAP workers, including several local MLAs, gathered at the scene to protest against the central government. Police officials, including SP City Narinder Singh and two DSPs, intervened to establish a human chain, successfully preventing a physical altercation between the opposing groups.
Prominent AAP leaders, including MLAs Jagroop Singh Gill and Balkar Sidhu, asserted that the central agency is being used as a political weapon against the state. They stated that the action against the minister is an attempt to intimidate the Punjab government. Conversely, BJP members continued their demonstration outside their office premises, maintaining that the state administration has lost its ethical right to govern following the federal investigation.
Heavy police deployment remained at the site near Mittal Mall throughout the afternoon to ensure order. The protest was part of a statewide call by the Aam Aadmi Party to demonstrate outside BJP district offices across Punjab in response to the ongoing legal proceedings against their leadership.
