Chandigarh: Protests against the police action on students at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar spread across Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday, with farmers, student groups and the Congress holding demonstrations at multiple locations. Haryana police detained senior Congress leaders and prevented a group of Punjab farmers from travelling to Delhi, while the Congress in Chandigarh staged a protest against paper leaks and the alleged use of force on students.In Haryana, Congress leaders, including state unit president Rao Narender Singh and AICC in-charge Sanjay Dutt, were detained after marching towards the BJP state headquarters in Panchkula. The protesters demanded the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, withdrawal of FIRs against students and reforms in the examination and recruitment system.Police also stepped up preventive measures in Sirsa, where District Congress Committee president Santosh Bainiwal and several Youth Congress leaders were detained or placed under house arrest. About 40-45 farmers travelling from Abohar in Punjab to Delhi were stopped at the Punjab-Haryana border near Dabwali and made to return after being denied entry into Haryana.In Chandigarh, Punjab Congress leaders and workers staged a protest outside Congress Bhawan, raising slogans against the Centre over repeated paper leaks and the police action on students. The demonstrators demanded the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Punjab education minister Harjot Singh Bains, alleging repeated examination irregularities at both the national and state levels.The protest briefly turned tense after Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon and party workers reached near the Congress Bhawan to stage a counter-protest. The BJP accused the Congress of politicising the NEET issue and adopting double standards, while Congress leaders questioned the BJP over repeated examination irregularities and accused both the Centre and the Punjab government of failing students.Meanwhile, in Punjab, hundreds of farmers and labourers under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) staged a protest at the Chidden toll plaza near Attari, keeping it toll-free for commuters from noon to 3 pm. The protesters condemned the police action on students in Delhi, expressed solidarity with the agitation and later burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reiterating their demand for Pradhan’s resignation.The Congress also staged demonstrations in Sonipat, where workers submitted a memorandum seeking examination reforms, action against those responsible for the police action on students and the resignation of the Union education minister. In Rohtak, SKM workers protested outside the BJP state office against the proposed India-US trade deal and the police action on students, saying the demonstrations would continue over the next two days.
