The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Bhopal unit lodged a first information report (FIR) on Friday night against unidentified people for attacking and blocking the motorcade of Jyotiraditya Scindia, their candidate for the Rajya Sabha election.
The BJP’s district unit president Vikas Virani, former mayor Alok Sharma and several other party leaders led the protest and submitted a complaint to the in-charge of the Shyamla Hills police station.
The party’s national vice-president Shivraj Singh Chouhan also condemned what he said was an assault on Scindia.
“The attack on Scindia who has been a Union minister shows how the law and order machinery in the state has collapsed under Congress government. There should be immediate action against those who were behind the attack,” Chouhan said.
Vikash Virani said Scindia’s motorcade was on its way to the airport when a group of people waved black flags, blocked the motorcade and attacked him.
Shyamla Hills police station in-charge Bharat Pratap Singh, however, refuted Virani’s charge and said there was no attack.
“Some people waved black flags and blocked the motorcade. An FIR has been lodged against unknown persons and we are trying to identify those who indulged in the act,” Singh said.
Narendra Saluja, the spokesperson of the Congress’ Madhya Pradesh unit, denied the BJP’s charges of an attack.
“The BJP’s allegation regarding the attack is completely baseless and fabricated. Some workers staged a demonstration in a democratic and peaceful manner but local BJP leaders are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill to score brownie points in the eyes of their senior leaders,” Saluja said.
Scindia, who reached Bhopal on Thursday, filed his nomination papers on Friday as the BJP’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections due on March 26.
