Political tensions ran high in Morinda on Friday ahead of the election to the post of president of the Morinda Municipal Council after former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi led a protest to the Morinda police station, alleging that the police had detained councillors belonging to his camp.
Channi reached the police station along with a large number of supporters and elected councillors before the scheduled election for the Municipal Council president at 3 pm today.
Speaking to reporters outside the police station, he alleged that three councillors of the Congress had been picked up by the police in an attempt to influence the outcome of the election.
Channi claimed that one of the detained councillors had even been locked inside a bathroom at the police station. He alleged that the police action was aimed at preventing the councillors from participating in the election and accused the ruling dispensation of misusing the police machinery for political purposes.
The former Chief Minister said democratic norms were being undermined and asserted that the mandate of the elected representatives should be respected. He demanded the immediate release of the councillors and warned that the Congress would continue its protest if they were not allowed to participate freely in the election process.
Around 12 elected councillors of the Morinda Municipal Council gathered at the police station in support of the detained members.
In Morinda MC, the Congress dominated by winning 10 out of 15 wards. Independents won four wards while AAP managed to win just one ward.
The protesting councillors alleged that the government had registered a criminal case against them to put pressure on them ahead of the crucial election.
The councillors maintained that the action was politically motivated and intended to alter the arithmetic in the Municipal Council before the election of the president. They raised slogans against the Punjab Government and demanded withdrawal of the case registered against them.
The protest led to a tense atmosphere outside the police station as supporters of the Congress assembled in large numbers. Police personnel remained deployed in and around the premises to maintain law and order.
The confrontation at the police station further sharpened the political battle between the Congress and the ruling AAP, with the opposition alleging misuse of state machinery to influence local body elections.
No official statement was immediately available from the police regarding the allegations made by Channi or the reasons behind the alleged detention of the councillors.