Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Congress held a protest on Tuesday in Indore, demanding relief from the compulsory helmet rule for the general public.
The party stated that while wearing helmets can be made mandatory, petrol should still be provided to those who come without helmets. The protest was held outside the office of the Divisional Commissioner, led by former state minister Sajjan Singh Verma and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in IMC, Chintu Chouksey.
Former minister Verma said that there are around 13 lakh vehicles in the city and it's difficult for the administration to ensure such a large number of helmets are available. Therefore, the decision needs to be reconsidered. Verma added that if helmets are to be made mandatory, CM should provide free helmets to men, just like the Ladli Behna scheme for women. Women also participated in the protest.
During the protest, Chintu Chouksey clarified that they are not against the helmet rule itself but are asking for sufficient time given to people to purchase helmets.
He also demanded that ISI-marked helmets be made available at reasonable prices in proportion to the number of vehicles in the city. Chouksey further said that until people have had the time to buy helmets, the rule should be implemented more leniently.
He demanded the withdrawal of the directive that says, ‘No helmet, no petrol.’ He also said that Sikh community members and women should be exempted from mandatory helmet rule.
After the protest, Congress leaders submitted a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister.
The memorandum was read out by Amit Patel. Several Congress leaders participated in the protest, including former city Congress president Kripa Shankar Shukla, Rajesh Chouksey, Mahila Congress president Sonali Mimrot, Rita Dagre, Reena Sethia, Suresh Minda, Councillor Anwar Dastak, Raju Bhadauria, Rafiq Khan, Anasaf Ansari, Seema Solanki, Kunal Solanki, Saifu Verma, Sheikh Aleem, Sudama Chaudhary, Raja Chouksey, Sach Saluja, Girdhar Nagar, Amit Chaurasia, Arvind Bagdi, Shashi Hada and others.
