Ajmer: Congress staged a protest Friday against the district administration and the police, accusing both of acting under the undue influence of BJP-led govt in the ongoing municipal elections. Congress MLA Vikas Choudhary said, “Police should not work like an agent of BJP govt; they should follow the law.”The protest arose from allegations that govt files were illegally removed from Ajmer Municipal Corporation (AMC) Wednesday night, an act Congress condemned as a “murder of democracy.”Enthusiastic Congress members gathered at the collectorate, chanting slogans against both the administration and BJP, before sitting in a dharna and singing the Hanuman Chalisa.Congress city vice-president Vivek Parashar said, “We have given a complaint to the police regarding the unlawful actions of BJP members, who, in collusion with AMC govt officials, accessed the AMC at midnight and removed important files. We demand that an FIR be registered in this matter and a thorough investigation be conducted.”In response to the escalating tensions, Deputy SP-level officials reached the protest site in an attempt to defuse the situation. Subsequently, the protesters were escorted to Ajmer SP Harsh Vardhan Agarwala’s office, where they formally submitted their complaint regarding the file removal incident.Against the backdrop of this protest is the political drama within the ongoing AMC elections. Following BJP’s unsuccessful attempt to get Congress mayoral candidate Kiran Gadwal’s nomination cancelled Thursday, the opposition party has launched a counterattack, threatening to expose the saffron party members’ alleged corruption in AMC over the last three decades.With Congress securing 37 out of 80 wards in AMC, BJP 32 and independents 11, the mayoral election between Congress and BJP candidates is poised to be competitive on Sept 21. Congress claims to have the support of five independent councillors, while BJP appears confident about attaining the majority mark of 41 with cross-voting.
