AAP protests across Punjab after ED action on Arora, with clashes and political jibes

Punjab BJP functioning president Ashwani Sharma criticized the unruly behavior of AAP workers and accused police of acting under political pressure to facilitate hooliganism. Union minister Ravneet Bittu demanded police action against AAP leaders and said he would escalate the matter with BJP leadership if no action was taken.

Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar stated that the era of misgovernance in the state was drawing to a close, predicting a day of reckoning for those involved in financial irregularities and saying accountability would come within six months.

In Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district’s Balachaur, AAP workers led by Banga MLA Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi confronted BJP workers at the district office; police intervened to pacify the situation. A video circulating online showed Sukhi allegedly snatching BJP district president Rajinder Singh’s mobile phone.

In Amritsar, AAP staged a demonstration outside BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh’s residence, breaking through barricades in protest.

AAP workers, with Narinder Pal Sawna and Jagdeep Goldy Kamboj, protested outside the residence of Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar in Subhash Nagar, Abohar.

AAP activists led by Balkar Sidhu and Sukhveer Singh Maisarkhana reached outside the BJP district headquarters in Bathinda; police intervened to prevent a clash between supporters of the two parties.

In Ludhiana, a scuffle broke out between AAP and BJP workers near the saffron party’s district office on Gill Road as AAP protested Arora’s arrest; BJP claimed AAP attacked their activists, with four injured according to BJP general secretary Anil Sareen.

In Patiala, cabinet minister Dr Balbir Singh led the protest and criticised BJP for politics of fear and intimidation; he questioned why raids against Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal stopped after he joined BJP, saying agencies become active only against opponents and that investigations disappear when someone joins the BJP.

AAP leaders and workers staged anti-BJP protests across Punjab, holding demonstrations and gheraos at district BJP offices in Amritsar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Patiala and Mohali, accusing the Centre of using ED, CBI and the income tax department as political weapons to intimidate elected governments and silence opposition voices.

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Sanjeev Arora, Punjab power minister, from his official residence in Sector 2, Chandigarh, following fresh raids at his residence and the corporate offices of Hampton Sky Realty Limited, a firm run by his family.