Punjab Power Crisis: MP Bhagwant Mann, 22 AAP Members Face FIR For Protest In Front Of CM's Residence

Besides MP Bhagwant Mann, police detained MLA Harpal Singh Cheema at the protest site in Mohali. Now, police have filed FIR against 23 AAP members along with 200 unknown persons.

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Mohali: Punjab Police have registered FIR against 23 members of the Aam Aadmi Party including MP and state unit chief Bhagwant Mann. This comes after he was detained on Saturday amid AAP's protest against the state government over the issue of power shortage.

FIR has been registered against Bhagwant Mann and MLA Harpal Singh Cheema, along with 200 unknown persons, who were protesting near Punjab CM Amarinder Singh's house in Mohali yesterday, Mohali SSP informed.

Police on Saturday used water cannon to disperse AAP workers led by Bhagwant Mann who were attempting to "gherao" the residence of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh at Siswan, in their protest against frequent power cuts in the state.

In view of the protest, police deployment was strengthened with multi-layered barricades put up on the road leading to the chief minister's farmhouse.

AAP workers carrying party flags forced their way through the first layer of barricades. Police began using a water cannon to disperse them as they reached the second layer.

Besides MP Bhagwant Mann, police detained MLA Harpal Singh Cheema at the protest site in Mohali. AAP Punjab's official Twitter account shared several videos of the protest including the visual of its state unit chief being taken away in a bus.

 

Punjab is witnessing worrying power shortages with urban and rural areas facing long hours of load shedding amid scorching heat.

In a bid to tackle the issue, the Punjab state government ordered a reduction in timings of state government offices and reduced power supply to high energy-consuming industries. Punjab CM also appealed to all government offices to make judicious use of electricity, as peak demand in the state recently touched 14500 MW.

Meanwhile, AAP leaders have been criticising the Congress government for having "failed" to provide 24-hour electricity supply to people at cheaper rates.

The opposition is attacking the CM Amarinder Singh-led government by accusing it of not providing sufficient electricity to consumers, especially to paddy growers for sowing crops.

The issue of electricity supply is gaining momentum ahead of the upcoming assembly election as Delhi CM and AAP's national convener Arvind Kejriwal promised 300 units of free electricity in the state if his party wins the polls.

(With Agency Inputs)