Shimla, June 10: Sloganeering by workers of the Congress and BJP marred the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) terminal depot at Pubowal village in Una district on Friday. The workers raised slogans in the presence of Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, who was here for the inauguration ceremony, and other leaders of the Congress and BJP.
The BJP workers, including a large number of youth, had gathered in front of the stage. Just as the Congress and BJP leaders, including Dharmendra Pradhan, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Food and Civil Supplies Minister GS Bali, Minister for Industries Mukesh Agnihotri, state president of BJP and Una MLA Satpal Satti and BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur, entered the venue, the workers started raising ‘Modi-Modi’ slogans. The chants became louder when the CM entered the venue.
Soon thereafter, about 100 Congress workers, led by Satpal Raizada, forced their way towards the stage and started raising slogans of ‘Raja-Raja’ in favour of the CM. Mukesh Agnihotri tried to placate the workers of both the parties but in vain.
The sloganeering became so loud that the organisers failed to start the programme. It was only after the intervention of the Union MoS that the workers calmed down. Dharmendra Pradhan said he was the son-in-law of the state and should be given respect.
Satpal Satti said the IOC terminal project had been brought to the state courtesy the NDA Government and it would provide direct and indirect employment to the people of the area.
MP Anurag Thakur taunted the Congress workers raising slogans by saying that they should not sweat it out at the event as it would not benefit them. “You should go and serve at the border,” he said.
This infuriated the Congress workers who kept on raising slogans in favour of Virbhadra Singh during his speech.
The MP said a new culture of showing black flags to Opposition leaders had been started. However, the BJP did not endorse that culture, he added. Mukesh Agnihotri was also interrupted by protesting BJP workers during his speech. He said the Congress government would come back to power in the forthcoming Assembly elections. He also claimed that the state government was responsible for bringing the IOC project to the area.
When GS Bali came to the stage for a speech, the BJP workers raised slogans in his favour, which surprised many.
Dharmendra Pradhan said the IOC terminal being brought to the state would involve an investment of Rs 507 crore. Besides supplying fuel to different parts of the state, it would be used to replenish the supplies of the Army from Manali-Leh route.
Virbhadra said the state and the Centre governments had their own rights under the Constitution. The state government’s role in any project cannot be belittled. Later, the CM laid the foundation stone for the project.
Source Tribune India
