Jamshedpur: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest in Jamshedpur on Tuesday over alleged stone-pelting during a demonstration by its Mahila Morcha outside the Congress district office in Bistupur on Monday. BJP Jamshedpur Mahanagar leaders and workers burnt an effigy of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi at the Jubilee Park roundabout in Sakchi, raised slogans against the Congress and demanded action against those allegedly responsible for the incident. The protest was led by Jamshedpur West MLA Purnima Sahu. BJP Mahanagar president Sanjeev Singh, several party leaders and women workers also took part in the demonstration.
Purnima Sahu alleged that the BJP Mahila Morcha had been protesting outside the Congress office, Tilak Pustakalaya, demanding justice over an alleged sexual harassment incident at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). She claimed that Congress workers began distributing rose flowers and jalebis to the women taking part in the demonstration, describing the gesture as insensitive to the seriousness of the issue.
According to the MLA, BJP workers objected to the conduct of the Congress workers, following which the latter allegedly resorted to stone-pelting. She claimed that several BJP leaders and workers were injured in the incident and alleged that she was also targeted during the stone-pelting.
Sahu described the incident as unfortunate, stating that the demonstration had been organised to demand justice and uphold women’s dignity. Other BJP leaders also alleged that stones were thrown in an attempt to suppress the Mahila Morcha protest. The Congress’s version of the incident was not available at the time of reporting.
During the effigy-burning protest, BJP workers raised slogans against Rahul Gandhi and the Congress to express their anger over the alleged incident.
Those present included Neelu Machhua, Dharmendra Prasad, Manju Singh, Khem Lal Chaudhary, Pramod, Munna Singh, Pappu Upadhyay, Abhishek, Aman Sinha, Amarpreet Singh Kale, Mamta Bhumij, Sangeeta Devi, Kusumpur Purti and Seema Das, along with other party workers.
