JOIN USThe half-day bandh organised in Jaipur to protest against the arrest of former minister and BJP MLA Rajendra Rathore. The bandh was organised by Rajput Mahasabha and Karni Sena over the MLA’s arrest by the CBI on his alleged involvement in a fake encounter case.
The bandh elicited mixed response as the bandh passed off with minor incidents of violence in the city. The BJP organised aseparate sit in at the district headquarters to protest over the arrest.
The sit in organised by the Jaipur party unit at Badri Chouper was attended by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, party MLAs from the city and office bearers.
It was an almost complete bandh in the walled city, railways station road, Jotwara and Khatipura but other parts of the city remained by and large normal.
The volunteers of the Rajput Mahasabha, and Rajput Karani Sena fanned out in the city in the morning asking traders to shut shop. In some places there were reports of forceful closure of shops, which resulted in the police using batons to disperse the protesters in Chandpole and Tripolia Bazaar areas. There were reports of bandh supporters indulging in violence.
The windowpanes of buses were broken at many places. Though the bandh supporters had announced the exclusion of the bus services from the bandh they did not allow buses to ply resulting in hundreds of people stranded on roads and market places.
They blocked traffic on the main roads. Police said five people were arrested for indulging in violence.
Meanwhile Congress leader Lokendra Singh Kalvi and patron of Rajput Karani Sena described the arrest of Rajendra Singh Rathore as unwarranted. He also deplored the violence during the bandh saying it was the handiwork of some anti-social elements.
Some miscreants wanted to create a wedge between communities.
Some of the shops ransacked during the bandh are owned by the Rajputs, which proves this. Some criminal minds were working to create tension between the various communities, he said.
Jail DG, Omendra Bhardwaj visited the Jaipur central jail on the complaints of unhygienic conditions by the jailed BJP leader. Bhardwaj ordered an immediate repair and cleanliness drive in the jail. Since the jail accommodates more inmates than its capacity, it was difficult to carry out maintenance work, he said.