Punjab BJP chief cancels SBS Nagar visit; Sampla gheraoed in Moga
LUDHIANA/MOGA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Punjab unit president of the party Ashwani Sharma on Monday cancelled a review meeting with party candidates in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district due to the farmers’ protest there.
A large number of farmers broke three barricades on the way to BJP meeting spot in the city and blocked all roads leading to the venue. BJP district chief Poonam Manik said, “Police was soft on protesters and allowed them to block roads to the meeting venue. We informed the state president of this, so he decided not to come.”
Sharma held a state-level meeting with party workers, in Ludhiana, in a secretive manner. District in-charges and district presidents were part of the meeting, which was called to discuss the February 14 civic polls. The meeting was organised at a community hall to the rear of a shopping mall on the Ferozepur Road. The media was not informed. BJP workers who were part of the meeting were instructed not to share the schedule.
State BJP co-incharge Dr Narinder Singh, state general secretary Jeevan Gupta; former BJP president Rajinder Bhandari and Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina were also present. “The Congress is facing defeat in MC polls, and is, thus, targeting BJP leaders,” Sharma said in a communique.
In Moga, activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) gheraoed senior BJP leader and former Union minister Vijay Sampla on Monday when he arrived in the city to campaign for the party candidates for the municipal corporation elections. Local BJP leaders and candidates left the spot, leaving Sampla and party’s district president Vinay Sharma behind, as soon as the BKU activists arrived to protest outside the gate of the Moga Improvement Trust market against the Centre’s farm laws. The protesters managed to gherao him even as heavy police force was deployed there.
Sampla arrived around noon and was meeting local BJP leaders and party candidates at the office of a party worker.
“The protesters were not farmers. They were Congress and Left goons. The elections are taking place when candidates are not being allowed to contest elections. This is all happening because of the ruling Congress in the state,” said the former minister who cancelled his other programmes in the city.
National Salt Satyagraha Memorial is conceived as an experiential journey recreating the spirit and the energy of the historic Dandi March where Gandhiji and his fellow marchers picked up salt from the sea beach to break the Salt Law imposed by the British India.
The Salt Satyagraha March or The Dandi March of 1930 as it is popularly known, was a landmark in the history of Indian freedom struggle. As a part of the Civil Disobedience Movement against the British rule, 80 Satyagrahis led by Mahatma Gandhi marched 241miles from Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad to the coastal village of Dandi and broke the Salt Law imposed by the British. As was the symbolic nature of the event, it inspired millions of Indians to join the freedom struggle and brought worldwide attention to the movement. The Dandi March demonstrated the effectiveness of non-violent civil disobedience as a form of protest for the first time. Spread over a 15-acre land and located in the coastal town of Dandi, where the Salt March ended on April 6, 1930 and the British salt monopoly was broken, the ‘National Salt Satyagraha Memorial’, Dandi, Gujarat, is conceived as an experiential journey recreating the spirit and the energy of the 1930 Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi and 80 of his fellow Satyagrahis. The visitors go through the Monument step-by-step in order to visualise and understand the history of the historic Salt March and the methodology of Satyagraha, which finally led to India’s Independence from the British colonial rule. Attractions at National Salt Satyagrah Memorial, Dandi
The Pathway & 24 Narrative Murals
The Pathway along the lake symbolises the path of the Dandi March. There are 24 bass-relief sculptural narrative murals mounted along the Pathway that depict and recreate the 24 themes and events from the 1930 Dandi March.
An Artificial Lake
An artificial lake has also been created symbolising the sea shore aspect of the salt satyagrah.
The Salt Marchers & statue of Mahatma Gandhi
80 Bronze Statues commemorating the marchers that walked along with Mahatma Gandhi through the 24 days of the march has also been installed at the memorial alongwith the 5metre high statue of the Mahatma which projects the forceful forward march of a great leader leading the people to freedom from exploitation and
The Pyramid of Light
The A-Frame: Stylised hands raised up in the sky, holding at the top a simulated salt crystal to form the canopy. Another unique feature is the laser lights which rises up and illuminates the glass crystal at night to make it a visually enhancing experience.
Solar Trees
To reflect the ethos of self-sufficiency imbibed by Mahatma Gandhi, 40 Solar Trees where designed, developed and installed at the memorial. It makes this memorial a net zero-energy project where all the energy required is produced in the memorial itself.
Salt Making Pans
Salt-Making Pans at the Memorial Complex allow the visitors to personally experience the process of salt-making and also make a pinch of salt to be taken away as a memory from the visit to the Memorial.