Former Union Minister and BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu was detained by Punjab Police on Saturday after staging a protest near a gate of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana, as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s cavalcade passed through the area.
Mann was visiting PAU to attend the Kisan Mela. During the protest, Bittu held up a liquor bottle towards the Chief Minister’s convoy and said he was “returning the bottle” to Mann, and he also made remarks targeting AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and the Punjab government.
Bittu also carried eggs and tomatoes during the protest, saying he was returning the items allegedly thrown at his cavalcade near Batala on Friday, he had also claimed that his convoy was attacked while he was travelling towards Pathankot to participate in the BJP’s ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’.
According to Bittu’s account, eggs, tomatoes and other objects were thrown at vehicles in his cavalcade near Ghasitpura on the Amritsar-Pathankot highway. He had also alleged that some vehicles were damaged and the allegations were denied by the Aam Aadmi Party.
Speaking after Saturday’s protest, Bittu said that if AAP workers protested against BJP leaders and their programmes, BJP workers would also exercise their democratic right to protest against the Punjab government and its leaders, he said the BJP would continue to raise issues concerning Punjab and hold peaceful protests outside the Chief Minister’s programmes and offices whenever required.
“This is a clear message to the Punjab Government that political opposition cannot be silenced through police action,” Bittu said, adding that BJP workers would continue to raise issues concerning the people of Punjab.
Following the protest, Ludhiana Police detained Bittu and took him to an undisclosed location.