BATHINDA/Amritsar/Chandigarh, May 19 -- Leaders of three opposition parties - the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) - staged a protest outside Punjab cabinet minister Dr Baljit Kaur's residence in Malout town of Muktsar district late on Monday night, alleging highhandedness during the civic body polls process. The minister hit back, saying the opposition is trying to rake up a controversy out of fear of defeat in the polls. Led by state Congress chief and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, the protesters alleged that minister's personal assistant (PA), Arsh Sidhu, misbehaved with Congress leader Makhan Singh Phulewala during the scrutiny of papers for the urban local body elections. Muktsar district BJP president Satish Asija and activists of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) also joined the sit-in. According to reports, Congress workers had gathered at the Malout SDM office, where the scrutiny of nomination papers was underway, when the alleged incident took place. The situation turned tense after a heated exchange between AAP and Congress workers. Opposition leaders alleged that Sidhu roughed up a Congress leader during the confrontation. Addressing protesters, Warring called for opposition unity to get a case registered against Sidhu. "I will approach the court to get a case registered if the police fail to take action," Warring said. The dharna culminated at around 11:35pm, with the leaders calling for a protest and highway blockade at 11 am on Tuesday. Rejecting the charges, Kaur said that fearing an imminent defeat in the urban body elections, the opposition parties joined hands to create a law-and-order situation. "The opposition leaders had come to the SDM office prepared to attack AAP volunteers," she alleged. Polling for 105 municipal bodies, including eight municipal corporations, will be held on May 26. Counting of votes will take place on May 29. Alleging that the AAP government is trying to influence the upcoming civic body polls by misusing the state machinery, senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Monday accused police of misbehaving with his wife and Majitha MLA Ganieve Kaur, a charge denied by the cops. Addressing party workers in Majitha, the former minister alleged that a deputy superintendent of police (DSP)-rank officer behaved 'inappropriately' with his wife, and other women workers at the Majitha SDM office when they had gone there during election-related activities. Congress' Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar also came out in support of the Akali leader. Majithia demanded the immediate suspension of the DSP and urged the state election commission to take notice of the incident. Majithia said he and his wife will also submit a written complaint against seeking disciplinary action against the DSP. Majitha DSP Kamalmeet Singh Randhawa rejected the allegations. "We were present there on the orders of the SDM. I complied with the directions and did nothing objectionable. Instead, the SAD leaders forcibly entered the office despite the SDM's orders," he said. "Reports of intimidation of a woman MLA and the arbitrary rejection of nomination papers of opposition candidates, especially across Malwa, expose the blatant misuse of police and administrative machinery," Randhwa said in a post on X. "The alleged misconduct by police officials has exposed the real face of the state government," Jakhar claimed in a press statement. Repeated attempts to contact AAP state chief spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, party halqa in-charge Talbir Singh Gill, state spokesperson Baltej Pannu and media in-charge Gurbhej Singh Sandhu for comments remained futile. The Congress, BJP and SAD staged a protest in Dhuri over the alleged delay in the release of the final list of candidates after the scrutiny of the nomination papers. Dhuri ex-MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy from the Congress said he planned to move the HC over discrepancies in the poll process....