Abohar, March 28
The Congress and the AAP activits came face to face here on Monday after the Abohar Municipal Corporation used earth movers to remove encroachments by shopkeepers on North Circular Road.
After finding that the platforms raised by them were demolished early in the morning, dozen of shopkeepers staged a dharna and raised slogans against the Municipal Corporation.
As soon as the protesters came to know that the complaint had been filed by an AAP leader to remove “encroachments” on Street-8, they started raising slogans against the state government.
The locals said traffic on both sides of the divider came to a halt due to construction of speed breakers and demolition drive.
Abohar Mayor Vimal Thatai claimed that he was not taken into confidence before launching the anti-encroachment drive. Later, Congress MLA Sandeep Jakhar also reached the protest site. He said a three-week notice should have been given before launching such a drive. Jakhar said the AAP activists had earlier removed concrete blocks from the divider without consulting the officials concerned.
Municipal Commissioner Abhijeet Kaplish said, “The shopkeepers had been told to do away with illegal construction on government land, but they ignored the advice. There is no political interference. The shopkeepers may get some liberty for easy access to their outlets, but violation of the rules will not be tolerated.”
Political row erupts over anti-encroachment drive in Abohar
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