JAMMU: Over 100 Congress activists and leaders including Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee President Ghulam Ahmad Mir and former ministers today courted arrest as police foiled ‘Secretariat Gherao’ of the Congress party organised on the opening day of the Darbar Move offices here.
Hundreds of Congress workers and leaders this morning assembled at Hari Singh Park to take out a protest march against the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir. Amid anti-government slogans, the Congress activists blamed PDP-BJP coalition in failing to address peoples grievances and meet their aspirations since the government formation.
”We have organised the rally and the ‘Secretariat Gherao’ to make people aware of failures and misconducts of the PDP-BJP government,” Sham Lal Sharma, senior Congress leader and former minister here told reporters.
Mr Sharma said Congress is a disciplined party and they can protest in such a big democratic set up to expose the wrongdoings of the government being in opposition. Meanwhile, the Congress activists led by state president G A Mir later held a protest rally and proceeded towards the Civil Secretariat, where the district administration had already imposed Section 144 of CrPC but police foiled their attempt. Congress leaders, including Mr Mir, former ministers Sham Lal Sharma, Raman Bhalla, Mula Ram, MLC Ravinder Sharma, former speaker and minister Tara Chand and around 100 workers were court arrested by the police and shifted to the District Police Lines.
”We will keep protesting against Government’s anti-people policies as being an opposition party, it is our duty to highlight their rights and wrongs,” Mr Mir told reporters.
He said there are so many issues on which both PDP and BJP have failed and they did not even fulfilled the promises made to the people before assembly elections.
”BJP’s Bihar defeat has cleared that people have rejected the Saffron party for its anti-people policies,” he said, adding that the way Congress party has made a good comeback in Bihar, good results will also be seen in other states and the Congress party will surely form next government in the Centre.
Meanwhile, barricades and barbwires were erected en route Civil Secretariat to foil all the attempts of rally and heavy deployment of police contingents was made around the city walls.
The winter capital however, witnessed long traffic jams due to restrictions imposed and the diversion of the vehicles in view of Congress rally. (UNI)
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