CHANDIGARH, SEPT 15: The Chandigarh Police deployed water cannons and briefly detained top opposition figures on Tuesday as a massive Punjab Congress protest marched toward the Chief Minister’s official residence. Led by newly appointed state in-charge Sachin Pilot, the demonstration marks an aggressive escalation against the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government following the tragic suicide of Gulzar Singh, a Dalit man from Sangrur.
The political storm erupted after Gulzar Singh, a member of the Valmiki community, took his own life. The victim had recently confronted Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema at a public event regarding the unchecked spread of “chitta” (heroin) that had affected his own son. Congress leaders and the victim’s family allege that following the public confrontation, local leaders and police subjected Singh to intense mental harassment and pressure to issue a public apology, driving him to the extreme step.
Addressing the gathering, Sachin Pilot revealed that the deceased explicitly named the Finance Minister in a dying declaration. “Instead of conducting a proper investigation and taking action, the government has left his name out of the FIR,” Pilot said, questioning who is shielding the state’s drug mafia. “This government has done nothing in five years, and the Congress has now come forward as the voice of the people.”
Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring raised slogans: “Bhagwant Mann Hai Hai.”
The protest served as a powerful display of internal solidarity for a traditionally fractured state unit. Senior leaders including former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, State Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa all shared the stage.
Lashing out at both the state and central governments, Bajwa condemned the handling of the crisis, demanding Cheema’s immediate dismissal and arrest. Meanwhile, working president Raj Kumar Verka declared the protest the launch of a sustained campaign against a “deaf and mute” Bhagwant Mann administration. As the march neared the CM’s residence, police used heavy barricading and water cannons to disperse the crowd, temporarily detaining Raja Warring and several other workers.
