MUZAFFARNAGAR: Scores of Congress party workers were injured and nine were arrested after a brawl over Biryani among them leading to violent clashes which broke out at party’s Bijnor candidate Naseemuddin Siddiqui’s public meeting in a village in Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh on late Saturday evening.
While the Election Commission of India (ECI) took the cognizance of the matter, district police administration registered a case against 34 persons including ex-MLA Jameel Ahmad Kasmi and his son Naeem Ahmad who had organised the Biryani party without seeking permission from the ECI.
As per the election commission officials, the biryani was served at the election meeting without permission after which a complaint was lodged by authorities.
The local sources claimed that election meeting was being held at Tandedha village in Kakrauli tehsil of Bijnor parliamentary constituency in support of Naseemuddin Siddiqui by former BSP MLA Maulana Jameel, who joined Congress recently.
Notably, Siddiqui is also a BSP turncoat who used to be a close confidante of BSP chief Mayawati once. He had held various portfolios under Maya regime but was expelled in 2017 for indulging in anti-party activities.
However, Siddiqui on his part had levelled charges of corruption and extortion on the BSP chief.
After the meeting in Muzaffarnagar, biryani had to be served to the Congress workers but it fell short. The election meeting was organised at the residence of Maulana Jameel. The flare-up resulted when the Congress workers started jostling to get their hand first on Biryani. The tussle which had started with punching and kicking turned into full-blown confrontation where people were seen attacking each other with batons.
After the violent clashes erupted, the cops were called in to disperse the mob. A case was lodged against 34 persons including Maulana Jameel Ahmad Kasmi and his son Naeem under various sections of the IPC for violence. A separate case of violation of the model code of conduct was also lodged charging Jameel and others with wooing voters for votes, said a local cop.
He added that nine persons were arrested so far in connection with the incident. To keep a check on any untoward incidents, Kakrauli Station House officer Jitendra Kumar reached the site of incident with additional forces including, a column of Punjab police, were deployed in the area and adjoining villages. Deputy superintendent of police (Bhopa) Ram Mohan Sharma said, “We arrested several people and booked them undervarious sections.”
Further investigation is on in the matter. Jameel who was elected from the Meerapur assembly constituency in 2012 on BSP ticket had joined the Congress last week. Bijnor will vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 11.