Aam Aadmi Party workers in Punjab held a protest outside the home of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in Chandigarh on Friday over high power tariffs in the state.
The police were forced to use water cannons to stop AAP leaders, including MP Bhagwant Mann, MLAs Harpal Singh Cheema and Kultar Singh Sandhwan, from moving towards the residence of the chief minister.
AAP's state president Mann had earlier on Tuesday said that party workers would gherao the chief minister's residence on January 10 against “open loot of power in the state by the government-sponsored power mafia”.
The Shiromani Akali Dal had also protested against the Congress government in power in the state over the high electricity rates.
Mann had claimed that consumers in the state paid more for electricity, the rate of which is much higher in Punjab than any other state. He said that people were forced to pay between Rs 9 and Rs 12 for domestic power even as Punjab produced its own electricity.
