Youth Congress, NSUI workers detained for protesting PM’s visit to Chhattisgarh

Raigarh: Nearly 80 workers of the Congress’ youth and student wings were on Thursday detained in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh for protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to the city in the afternoon, over the issue of unemployment and "cancellations" of trains.

The PM is scheduled to dedicate rail sector projects worth around Rs 6,350 crore and address a public rally at around 3 pm in Kodatarai village, around 8 km away from here.

Around 80 workers of the Youth Congress and NSUI (National Students’ Union of India) were detained here at Gandhi Chowk as a precautionary measure when they were marching ahead carrying placards opposing the PM’s visit and raising slogans, said Sub Divisional Officer of Police Dipak Mishra.

They have not been arrested, he added.

In the visuals of the protest, some of those marching were seen wearing black shirts. They were raising slogans like “Modi go back”.

According to the Youth Congress and NSUI workers, they were heading to the PM’s programme venue at Kodatarai to stage a protest against unemployment and "cancellation" of several trains passing through the state.

This will be Modi’s second visit to Chhattisgarh, where the BJP lost power in 2018 after ruling the state for 15 consecutive years, in the last two-and-a-half months.

According to the police, the venue of the PM's programme has been fortified with a massive security cover.

A multi-layered security arrangement, involving personnel of the state police besides contingents of the Special Protection Group (SPG), has been made in the area.