High drama unfolded on the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway (NH-248) near Signature Tower on Tuesday as Haryana Police cracked down on a massive protest organised by the District Congress Committee. Dozens of Congress workers, including prominent local leaders, were forcefully detained and bundled into police vans after they attempted to hold a religious recitation of the “Sundarkand Path” directly outside ‘Gurukamal’, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) district headquarters in Sector 31.
The political face-off traces back to a “Sadbuddhi Yagya” campaign launched by the Congress. Led by Congress District Presidents Vardhan Yadav (Rural) and Pankaj Dawar (Urban), the party organised the “Sundarkand Path” to protest against the alleged donation embezzlement controversy surrounding the Ayodhya Ram Temple, accusing ruling BJP leaders of shielding those involved. In anticipation of the protest and to prevent clashes between rival party workers, the Gurugram district administration had clamped Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) — which bans the assembly of five or more unauthorised persons — within a 300-metre radius of the BJP headquarters.
When the mobilisation reached the heavily fortified barricades near the highway, police officials immediately moved to block their path. Despite being served legal notices and warned repeatedly by on-duty magistrates that their gathering was unauthorised, the Congress workers tried to push past the barricades. The standoff quickly devolved into intense pushing and shoving, leading to chaotic scenes on the arterial highway, which began experiencing traffic snarls.
To clear the area, police personnel launched a swift containment operation, physically lifting and dragging several resisting protesters — including female party workers and district leaders — into waiting police buses. During the commotion, several leaders alleged they were manhandled. “They tore our clothes, used force and physically assaulted us just because we wanted to pray,” alleged Rural District President Vardhan Yadav from inside a police bus, holding up a torn shirt. “Today, the BJP has exposed itself by deploying police forces to stop devotees from chanting the name of Lord Ram. This is a direct insult to Ram bhakts.”
Gurugram police administrative officials strongly refuted all allegations of physical assault or unnecessary force. Police insisted that the administration had acted solely to preserve public order and maintain the unhindered flow of civic infrastructure.
“We had issued prior notices and warned them multiple times that Section 163 was actively in place. They intentionally tried to blockade a major national highway, which was causing severe inconvenience to commuting citizens. No physical assault or misbehavior took place. We exercised minimal, necessary physical force only to detain approximately 40 to 50 protesters who refused to comply with the law,” said cops on spot.
The detained workers were transported to local police stations under preventive custody.