The Punjab Youth Congress today staged a protest in Ghambirpur, the native village of Punjab Education and Local Bodies Minister Harjot Singh Bains, demanding his resignation over the alleged paper leak controversy in the state.However, the demonstration, led by Punjab Youth Congress president Shubham Sharma, also exposed apparent factionalism within the Congress, with the Ropar district unit staying away from the protest.The protest was organised outside Ghambirpur village in the Anandpur Sahib constituency. Youth Congress activists raised slogans against the AAP government, accusing it of failing to safeguard the integrity of recruitment examinations and alleging that paper leaks had eroded unemployed youth’s confidence in the state’s recruitment process.The protest, which was scheduled to begin at 11 am, started nearly two hours late. Party insiders attributed the delay and the relatively thin attendance to organisational issues and a lack of coordination within the district unit. The gathering failed to attract an impressive turnout despite being projected as a state-level dharna.The absence of the Ropar district Youth Congress leadership became a major talking point during the protest. District Youth Congress president Navjit Singh Navi, son of former Punjab Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi, was conspicuous by his absence. His absence fuelled speculation about differences within the state Youth Congress over the programme.Repeated attempts to contact Navjit Singh Navi for his reaction remained unsuccessful as he neither responded to phone calls nor replied to WhatsApp messages.During the protest, Youth Congress workers initially staged a dharna on the road leading to Ghambirpur village, raising slogans against the Punjab Government and demanding that Bains resign, holding him morally responsible for the alleged paper leak issue.As the agitation intensified, the protesters broke through police. Then they marched towards the minister’s residence inside the village and staged a dharna outside his house. The protesters continued raising slogans against the state government and reiterated their demand for the minister’s resignation.A large police force had been deployed in and around the village to maintain law and order during the demonstration. Although the protesters breached the barricades, the situation remained under control and no untoward incident was reported, except for the defacement of posters of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann at some places.After staging the protest outside the minister’s residence for some time, the Youth Congress delegation submitted a memorandum to the tehsildar of Anandpur Sahib. The protesters dispersed peacefully after handing over the memorandum.When contacted, Education and Local Bodies Minister Harjot Singh Bains declined to comment on the Youth Congress protest held outside his native village.The protest comes amid continued political attacks by the Congress on the AAP government over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations. However, today’s demonstration also highlighted organisational challenges within the opposition party, as visible differences within the Youth Congress appeared to overshadow what was intended to be a show of strength against the ruling government.