Express News Service
BHOPAL: Opposition to Congress’ Karnataka assembly poll manifesto likening Bajrang Dal to the proscribed Popular Front of India (PFI) and promising to ban it if voted to power in the southern state, turned violent in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur on Thursday.
In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, which is ruled by the Congress, CM Bhupesh Baghel warned Bajrang Dal not to display unruly behaviour and stay away from violence. “Cadres of Bajrang Dal did create some disturbances and we restrained them. Violence in the name of Bajrang Bali is unacceptable. If required, we might think of banning the outfit,” he said.
In MP, opposing the Congress’s Karnataka poll manifesto, a group of Bajrang Dal men led by local unit head Sumit Thakur stormed into a multi-storeyed building housing the Jabalpur District Congress Committee office and ransacked property there.
Local Congress workers alleged that Bajrang Dal men stormed into the building and attacked the building’s guard, before damaging the property there, including the electricity system installed there.The incident happened before the meeting of Jabalpur Congress Committee was to be held in the party office.
The videos of the incident showed Bajrang Dal men, holding saffron flags and shouting slogans storming into the building and damaging the fibre sheds, the Congress placard bearing former party president Sonia Gandhi’s picture and also hurling stones at the glass windows of the party office.
Former Jabalpur Congress chief Dinesh Yadav alleged that 100 Bajrang Dal men attacked the Congress office after injuring the chowkidar. “If they think we’re going to get scared by this, then they are mistaken. Will CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan act against these men, by bulldozing their houses?”
“An FIR has been lodged at the Lordganj police station against Bajrang Dal men,” circle SP (CSP-Jabalpur Kotwali) Prabhat Shukla told this newspaper. “The unfortunate part of the incident is that cops present in the area didn’t act. If the CM has faith in democracy, then he should take strict action against the wrongdoers and ensure that such incidents aren’t repeated in MP,” state Congress chief Kamal Nath tweeted.
How Row eruptedIn the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly polls, the Congress on Tuesday likened Bajrang Dal to the now-banned Popular Front of India and said the party was committed to taking decisive action, including imposing a ban, on outfits spreading hatred among communities.
BHOPAL: Opposition to Congress’ Karnataka assembly poll manifesto likening Bajrang Dal to the proscribed Popular Front of India (PFI) and promising to ban it if voted to power in the southern state, turned violent in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur on Thursday.
In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, which is ruled by the Congress, CM Bhupesh Baghel warned Bajrang Dal not to display unruly behaviour and stay away from violence. “Cadres of Bajrang Dal did create some disturbances and we restrained them. Violence in the name of Bajrang Bali is unacceptable. If required, we might think of banning the outfit,” he said.
In MP, opposing the Congress’s Karnataka poll manifesto, a group of Bajrang Dal men led by local unit head Sumit Thakur stormed into a multi-storeyed building housing the Jabalpur District Congress Committee office and ransacked property there.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Local Congress workers alleged that Bajrang Dal men stormed into the building and attacked the building’s guard, before damaging the property there, including the electricity system installed there.
The incident happened before the meeting of Jabalpur Congress Committee was to be held in the party office.
The videos of the incident showed Bajrang Dal men, holding saffron flags and shouting slogans storming into the building and damaging the fibre sheds, the Congress placard bearing former party president Sonia Gandhi’s picture and also hurling stones at the glass windows of the party office.
Former Jabalpur Congress chief Dinesh Yadav alleged that 100 Bajrang Dal men attacked the Congress office after injuring the chowkidar. “If they think we’re going to get scared by this, then they are mistaken. Will CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan act against these men, by bulldozing their houses?”
“An FIR has been lodged at the Lordganj police station against Bajrang Dal men,” circle SP (CSP-Jabalpur Kotwali) Prabhat Shukla told this newspaper. “The unfortunate part of the incident is that cops present in the area didn’t act. If the CM has faith in democracy, then he should take strict action against the wrongdoers and ensure that such incidents aren’t repeated in MP,” state Congress chief Kamal Nath tweeted.
How Row erupted
In the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly polls, the Congress on Tuesday likened Bajrang Dal to the now-banned Popular Front of India and said the party was committed to taking decisive action, including imposing a ban, on outfits spreading hatred among communities.
