Rishikesh, Feb 22 (PTI) Residents held a demonstration here on Saturday and burned the effigy of cabinet minister Premchand Aggarwal to protest against his alleged remarks against the hill people (pahadis) inside the Uttarakhand Assembly.

Aggarwal had reacted angrily to a remark from the opposition benches in the Assembly on Friday, asking them not to speak in terms of "pahadi" and "desi". People did not fight for statehood to Uttarakhand to witness this, he had said. This had led to a heated argument between the minister and opposition members.

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A mock funeral procession of the minister was taken out and his effigy was burned by people under the banner of Uttarakhand Swabhiman Morcha.

The effigy was burnt after a fierce demonstration in front of his camp office located on Barrage Road.

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A large number of protesters reached near the cabinet minister's camp office located on Rishikesh Ganga Barrage Road where a sizable deployment of police force had been made in apprehension.

The road leading to the camp office was closed by putting up barricades. For about an hour, the protesters demonstrated against Aggarwal who holds the charge of finance, urban development and parliamentary affairs in the Pushkar Singh Dhami cabinet.

Uttarakhand Swabhiman Morcha leader Sudhir Rai said the cabinet minister has no right to insult the mountain community with whose support he has won the election from Rishikesh for four consecutive times.

It is a matter of shame that no leader of the ruling party within the House is saying anything about this "indecency". He said the movement against the minister will continue.

Dinesh Chandra Master, who contested the mayoral election from Rishikesh Municipal Corporation as an Independent candidate, said the people of the mountain community have been repeatedly targeted by the minister. Now he is tearing apart the decorum of the House as well. The natives of Uttarakhand will not tolerate it, he said.

Aggarwal's statement to the media that an MLA from the hills had come drunk to the House had triggered the trouble on Friday.

(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)