Bhagwant Mann faces protests in Mansa, Maur, gives roadshows a miss
Ahead of Bhagwant Mann's visit at both places, residents closed the markets as a mark of protest against the ruling state government for not solving the problem of sewerage overflow.
Traders in Mansa shut down the markets in protest ahead of CM Bhagwant Mann's roadshow, Wednesday. (Express photo) The ruling AAP government in Punjab on Wednesday faced criticism in Maur and Mansa areas where CM Bhagwant Mann had come to attend road shows in support of party candidate Gurmeet Singh Khuddian.
While Maur is an assembly constituency in Bathinda district, Mansa is an assembly constituency in Mansa district. However, both are a part of the Bathinda Lok Sabha for which the AAP has fielded Khuddian.
Ahead of Mann’s visit at both places, residents closed the markets as a mark of protest against the ruling state government for not solving the problem of sewerage overflow.
Jeewan Meerpuria, a pesticide dealer in Mansa, said that Mann’s visit was slated for 4 pm but police put restrictions in place since morning. “They were not even allowing us to move in that market. Fed up with the restrictions, shopkeepers closed the market and sat on a dharna at the gaushala road from where the roadshow was to start. We all anyway fed up with the overflowing sewerage and was not even keen to see his road show,” he said.
Krishan Chauhan, CPI general secretary of the Punjab unit and a Mansa resident said, “Residents are angry with the sewerage situation and wanted to question the CM. But we were aware that we will not be allowed to go near him. So when police put up so many restrictions, people got irritated and staged a dharna.”
The CM addressed supporters near police station road and got hardly any response for his roadshow in the markets as the markets were closed, Meerpuria said.
In Maur, however, the CM had to start his road show from Ganesh mill road where protesters reached ahead of his visit and started questioning the area MLA Sukhvir Singh Maiserkhana about the sewerage overflow situation.
Susheel Garg, a sweet shop owner in Maur, said, “The entire market was closed ahead of the CM’s visit as we were not keen to be part of his roadshow when our basic problem of sewerage overflow hadn’t been resolved. As people were gathered on both sides of the road, Mann quickly passed through that road and his road show was a lukewarm affair.”
It was the CM’s first roadshow in both Mansa and Maur for this election.
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