Kota, April 2: Three BJP councillors climbed atop a water tank here on Sunday, demanding that the Rajasthan government declare Chhabra, a sub-division in Baran, an independent district.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had last month announced the formation of 19 new districts and three new divisions in the state. It was the first time since 2008 that new districts were carved out in Rajasthan, taking the number of districts in the state to 50. Rajasthan Government Makes Employees With Third Child Eligible for Promotion and Salary Hike.

Councillors Vipin Sharma, Rohit Arora, and Manmohan Sain of the Chhabra municipality were arrested under section 151 (arrest to prevent commission of cognisable offence) of the CrPC, but let off with a warning.

The three protested at the top of the Public Health and Engineering Department water tank on Krishi Upaj Mandi premises for around two hours and raised slogans against the state government, accusing it of discriminating against the people of Chhabra.

Following the intervention of tehsildar Mukesh Meena and SHO of Chhabra police station Rajesh Kumar, the protesters came down and handed over to the officials, a memorandum addressed to Gehlot demanding that Chhabra be declared a new district. Rajasthan Government Approves Rs 36.56 Crore To Set Up Digital Libraries in 344 Residential Schools in State.

The BJP leaders threatened to relaunch the protest if their demand was not met. The CM announced the formation of 19 new districts but ignored the Chhabra sub-division which has the oldest municipality in the state, constituted in 1906 and fulfils all requirements needed for it to be named a district, the councillors claimed in the memorandum.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)