BJP leaders Vijay Sampla, Shwait Malik face farmers’ ire in Amritsar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 5

Former MP Vijay Sampla, Rajya Sabha MP Shwait Malik and other BJP leaders faced the wrath of farmers during their visit here today.

Raising anti-BJP slogans, the protesters tried to intercept Sampla at the Circuit House and later during his visit at the Ram Tirath temple. The same group tried to confront Malik at the Amritsar Railway Station where he went to review a project. Harjeet Singh Jheeta of the Azad Kisan Sangharsh Committee claimed some of their colleagues received injuries when vehicles of leaders hit them. Nonetheless, the police detained six to eight farmers for a few hours before releasing them with no complaint registered against them.

Sampla had paid his maiden visit to Amritsar after assuming charge as Chairperson of the National Commission of Scheduled Castes. He paid obeisance at the Golden Temple, Durgiana Mandir and Ram Tirath.

Sampla said 67,000 cases stood pending with the commission and it would be his priority to clear them. He said the commission would soon launch an online portal for listening to the grievances and facilitating easy access to the commission that deals with the issues of social harassment, government injustice, violation of SC/ST Act, etc.

Later, he held a joint meeting with senior police officers. Sampla took details of various welfare schemes being run by the government. Speaking on the post-matric scheme, he said no government or private college could refuse admission to a child under the scheme nor could it deny the degree of a student on the basis of non-payment of scholarship grant. On the issue of safai karamcharis, he said under no circumstances should a worker be forced to enter a sewerage septic tank. If he has to enter a tank, all safety measures must be taken.