Chandigarh, March 8: High drama was witnessed at the office of the Chandigarh Congress in Sector 35 today after supporters of Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu staged a protest accusing the president of the city unit of the party, Pradeep Chhabra, of not allowing them to hold a function on International Women’s Day inside the premises. Poonam Sharma, a former Mayor, had invited Dr Sidhu to be the chief guest at the function. Dr Sidhu, a former MLA from Punjab, is one of the four contenders for the Congress ticket for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat.
Poonam alleged that despite having been given prior information regarding the function, Chhabra did not allow them to hold the function. Poonam said a large number of women Congress members were shocked when they found the office locked when they reached in the afternoon. She said the action of the president was illegal as the Congress office belonged to every section of the party. Nobody could be denied entry because of allegiance to a particular group.
She said as a mark of protest against Chahbra’s decision, they celebrated Women’s Day outside the party office.
Subhash Sharma, a supporter of Dr Sidhu, said the function was to he held in a big way in which Dr Sidhu was invited as the chief guest. He said when they were not allowed entry, they requested Dr Sidhu not to attend the function.
Chhabra said he was not informed about the function in advance. He said he got the request this morning but denied permission to avoid any kind of confrontation. He said his photo was also used in the poster without his permission.
