Police use water cannon to quell AAP protest outside Punjab CM’s farmhouse
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New Delhi: Police on Saturday used water cannon to disperse Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers forcing their way to gherao the residence of Punjab chief minister CaptAmarinder Singh at Siswan near Chandigarh to protest frequent power cuts. The protesting AamAadmi Party (AAP) workers, led by their Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann, raised slogans against the Congress government over the power shortage. Police personnel were deployed in strength and multi-layered barricades were put up on the road leading to the chief minister’s farmhouse.
As scores of AAP workers carrying party flags forced their way through the first layer of barricades and reached the second, police used water cannons to disperse them.
Punjab has been reeling under an unprecedented power shortage with urban and rural areas facing long hours of load shedding amid the scorching heat.
The Punjab government had already ordered a reduction in timings of state government offices and reduced power supply to high energy-consuming industries. The Amarinder Singh-led government has been under fire from the opposition for not being able to provide sufficient electricity to consumers, especially to paddy growers for sowing crops. Earlier, AAP leaders slammed the Congress government for having failed to provide 24-hour power to people at cheaper rates.
