Anti-BJP protesters clash with police

Five 'NSUI members' hurt in lathicharge

At least five persons were injured when Delhi Police resorted to lathicharge during a protest outside BJP president Rajnath Singh’s Ashoka Road house in central Delhi on Wednesday. The protesters were levelling corruption charges against BJP, and clashed with police during which Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) S B S Tyagi’s uniform was torn.

The group claimed to be associated with National Students Union of India, but the Congress youth wing denied it. The protest came a day after Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha — the BJP’s youth wing — staged a protest outside Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s house demanding removal of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh over corruption charges.

Heavy police deployment was put in place and barricades were set up, but over 200 protesters marched towards Singh’s house. The protest, which started around 12.30 pm, continued for about two hours. They were stopped by police a few hundred metres away.
“A three-tier barricade was formed to thwart protesters and lathicharge was used to disperse the agitators,” a police officer said.

Around 50 protesters were also detained during the clash with police and were later let off. The protesters claimed there is corruption within the BJP and the party should come clean on charges before accusing others.

Several protesters claimed to be NSUI members, but a spokesperson denied any involvement. BJP national spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said she condemned the protest. “This unruly protest only shows that the Congress has no answers. Their hypocrisy has been exposed. How can they talk about removing corruption when every state they rule have corruption cases?” she said.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley, who had charged Virbhadra in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, tweeted on Wednesday, “Instead of street demonstrations, is the Congress Party willing to debate on national television the charges against Virbhadra Singh?”