Hundreds of Congress workers led by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and District Congress Committee (DCC) president Kulbir Singh Zira staged a massive protest in Zira on Jattvibeday. The protesters marched towards the grain market, the venue where Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was scheduled to address a rally organised to induct gangster-turned-politician Gurpreet Singh Sekhon into the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).The Congress workers carried black flags and wore black bands around their turbans as part of the protest.The demonstration was organised in response to the alleged police assault on 37-year-old Mohanjeet Singh of Sherron village in Sangrur district on September 3. Mohanjeet had allegedly waved a black flag and raised slogans against the government during Mann’s ‘Lok Milni’ programme to express his resentment over the drug menace and alleged government inaction.After meeting Mohanjeet, Warring had announced that Congress workers would greet the Chief Minister with black-flag protests wherever he goes. Jattvibeday’s demonstration was the first such protest led personally by the PPCC chief.Warring accused Mann of forgetting democratic principles and alleged that the Punjab Police had “run amok” over a peaceful and symbolic protest by a youth. He said Mann was not the first Chief Minister to face black-flag protests, pointing out that Chief Ministers, Prime Ministers and Presidents in the past had also been shown black flags, but nobody reacted the way Mann did.Warring dared Mann and the Punjab Police to register as many cases as they wanted following the Congress protest, asserting that such demonstrations would continue wherever the Chief Minister goes. He also claimed that Mann’s days as Chief Minister were numbered and that his “countdown has begun”.Warring also targeted Mann over the induction of Sekhon into the AAP. He said Mann had earlier criticised the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for giving tickets to people with criminal backgrounds. Warring alleged that Mann had failed to keep his promises and frequently changed his statements. He further alleged that businessmen in Punjab were living under a shadow of fear and claimed that the state was under the influence of gangsters.Warring said the induction could set a dangerous precedent where gangsters first resort to crime, intimidation and extortion before entering politics to “wash off” their sins and crimes. He expressed confidence that the people of Zira would never accept or elect such a person to the Vidhan Sabha.