Cong, BJP workers exchange blows in Ludhiana

Timely intervention of police, prevented the situation from taking an ugly turn, even as the episode lasted for around two hours

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress workers exchanged blows near the Clock Tower on Friday, even as social organisations were paying their respects to the father of the nation on Gandhi Jayanti celebrations near the municipal corporation’s Zone A office.

BJP workers protesting outside the Congress office near Clock Tower Chowk in Ludhiana on Friday. (Harsimar Pal Singh)

BJP workers were protesting outside the Congress office to condemn Thursday’s vandalism at its office which they claim was carried out by Youth Congress workers. Timely intervention of police, prevented the situation from taking an ugly turn, even as the episode lasted for around two hours.

Jeevan Gupta, state general secretary of the BJP, said party workers were protesting peacefully. “The Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government has failed on all fronts. The government has triggered farmers’ protest to divert attention of people from scams,” Gupta claimed, adding that Congress workers had also damaged the posters of BJP leaders in the Clock Tower area.

With a large number of workers of both parties gathering at the spot, police blocked the Old Sessions Chowk flyover; vehicles heading from Jagraon Bridge towards Clock Tower were diverted, leading to a jam on the Jagraon Bridge and the Domoria Bridge.

“Instead of protesting against the Congress government, the BJP should reflect upon its misrule. Farmers are on roads, businessmen are suffering losses, economy is at all-time low and rapes are happening every day under the PM Narendra Modi-led regime,” said Handa.

Later, both the parties separately visited the statue of Gandhi to pay homage to the father of the nation.