Protest heat rises in poll-bound Ludhiana
Bathinda: With the Ludhiana West byelection looming, the city is now on the radar of protesters of various hues — a pattern observed in previous poll-bound areas like Bathinda during the SAD-BJP tenure and Patiala-Chamkaur Sahib under the Congress govt.
While some employee and unemployed unions are already holding agitations, the family of a deceased village sarpanch and members of various organisations are set to descend on Ludhiana on Thursday for a candle march. Their target: Guru Harsahai MLA Fauja Singh Sarari and his personal assistant, Bachittar Singh, demanding immediate action against them for alleged abetment to suicide.
The protesters plan to converge near Gate Number 1 of Punjab Agriculture University, a stone's throw from the AAP election office for the Ludhiana West byelection.
They intend to hold a protest march.
Jashan Bawa, 24, the sarpanch of Trinda village and an AAP member, died by suicide on May 31. His family alleges that Bawa was driven to the extreme step due to continuous harassment by MLA Sarari and his personal assistant.
On June 9, villagers and various organisations staged a protest at Lakho Ke Behram police station, disrupting the Ferozepur-Fazilka highway to demand justice.
Ferozepur police have formed a special investigations team (SIT), comprising two SP-level officers and one DSP, to investigate the matter and determine the MLA's alleged role in the incident.
MLA Sarari has denied the allegations, attributing them to a smear campaign by certain individuals, including members of his own party.
Meanwhile, a separate wave of protests is set to hit Ludhiana on June 16, organised by the Narinderdeep death action committee. They are demanding a judicial inquiry into the alleged custodial death of 34-year-old IELTS teacher Narinderdeep, who died in Bathinda on May 23. The committee is also demanding the nomination of the CIA-2 in-charge in the case, the arrest of implicated police officers, a government job for a bereaved family member, and compensation.
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The Print
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- The Print
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Siddaramaiah is from the backward Kuruba community and his support base took aim at Shivakumar every time the latter would try to broach the unwritten pact that he would replace the former halfway through the term. Siddaramaiah camp further complicated matters for the party by promoting a narrative that replacing a chief minister from Backward Classes with Shivakumar, who is from a dominant community, could be politically unfavorable. 'Siddaramaiah and Congress used the Backward Classes for their political agenda and then sacrificed the latter. Siddaramaiah claims that he became CM with the support of AHINDA but has today shown that he will cheat the backward classes to remain in power,' R. Raghu Kautilya, president of Karnataka BJP's OBC morcha said Thursday. Shivakumar said the Congress was carrying out the survey again to further its objective of achieving social justice and not for the sake of politics. 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The Print
an hour ago
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Time of India
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