BHOPAL: Neighbouring the Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, the Vidisha district has turned out to be the latest political flashpoint between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress in the central Indian state.
It all started on Thursday when the local Congress MLA Shashank Bhargava led the party protest in Vidisha town against the sustained rise in petrol-diesel prices. While talking to the journalists after the protest, the Congress lawmaker while attacking the Narendra Modi government made unsavoury comments about the Prime Minister and a woman Union minister.
“There is a woman minister in the central government who used to protest with bangles against inflation earlier. She is very close to Modiji (PM), who cannot only give him bangles but everything else. I appeal her to gift bangles and anything else she wants to the PM for appealing him to revoke the hike in petro prices,” the Vidisha MLA said publicly.
Irked over the objectionable statements by the Congress MLA, a BJP delegation led by the Vidisha Municipality chairman Mukesh Tandon (Tandon had lost to Bhargava in 2018 assembly polls) submitted a complaint against the local MLA, after which a case u/s 294 (obscene acts or words) and 504 (intentional insult for provoking a breach of public peace) was lodged against Bhargava.
However, just a few hours later, the Congress MLA’s office (situated close to his factory premises) and vehicles parked outside were attacked. Alleging the BJP’s hand in entire violence, the Congress MLA submitted a complaint in the matter after which a case of rioting, use of criminal force, mischief causing damage of fifty rupees and breach of district collector’s prohibitory orders was registered against unidentified accused and process of identifying them is underway, the Vidisha district police superintendent Vinayak Verma said on Friday.
Further, two cross complaints were also submitted by either sides later. While the BJP side alleged that the MLA and his supporters had opened fire on BJP workers in the evening, the MLA and his aides alleged that it was city municipality president Mukesh Tandon, who had opened fire outside the MLA’s office on Thursday evening.
“We’re investigating both cross complaints as part of the already registered two cases,” the Vidisha SP said.
Meanwhile, a delegation of senior Congress leaders led by ex-union minister Suresh Pachouri, ex-MP minister Sajjan Verma and ex-Vidhan Sabha Speaker NP Prajapati met the MP DGP in Bhopal and raised the issue of alleged violence by BJP workers at the Congress MLA’s office in Vidisha on Thursday. The senior Congress leaders, including ex-CM Digvijaya Singh, were also likely to travel to Vidisha later in the day.