GANDHINAGAR: In an ambush that triggered a political storm in the state capital, Aam Aadmi Party (
AAP
) workers barged into Kamalam, the state headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party, on Monday, ensuing in a violent clash between volunteers of the two parties and injuries to several workers amid a lathi charge by the police to control a potentially volatile situation.
AAP workers were registering their protest over the recent head clerk recruitment examination paper leak. The police detained a number of political activists, including state AAP president Gopal Italia and leader Isudan Gadhvi, whom
BJP workers alleged was in an inebriated condition.
AAP workers were registering their protest over the recent head clerk recruitment examination paper leak, they forcibly entered Kamalam; About 20 AAP workers were detained
About 20 AAP workers, including leaders, were detained as the police filed an FIR against Gadhvi, Italia, Shiv Kumar, Pravin Ram, Nikhil Savani, Hasmukh Patel and about 500 others, booking them under 18 sections of the IPC which include criminal trespass, molestation, unlawful assembly, causing hurt, conspiracy and destroying public property among others.
The protest turned ugly when AAP workers took the fight against state government and broke into BJP headquarters after they found the secretariat doors closed.
“AAP workers forcibly entered ‘Kamalam’ after breaking the main gate, which led to an altercation between BJP and AAP members. Some persons got injured in that altercation. We then rushed to the spot and detained over 20 AAP workers, including women. No one was injured in our lathi charge,” said M K Rana, deputy superintendent of police, Gandhinagar.
Gadhvi was taken to the Gandhinagar civil hospital for a medical check-up after some women workers of the BJP alleged that he misbehaved with them in an inebriated state. “Some AAP workers and leaders came drunk and misbehaved with us. They hit us on our back using sticks. Though we were polite with them, AAP workers created a ruckus and uttered derogatory words for our leaders,” alleged BJP leader Shraddha Jha.
Gadhvi said, “BJP has cheated lakhs of youth of Gujarat. We decided to protest and demand justice for Gujarat's youth. We had planned to protest at the secretariat but the doors were closed, so we decided to have a peaceful protest at BJP headquarters. We were attacked by their workers and bouncers and the police have also beaten us. To distract from the issue of injustice to youth, BJP women workers have made allegations of us having consumed liquor. We have cooperated with police, and have got ourselves tested. All tests have come negative.''
The suddenness of the AAP swoop on Kamalam caught most BJP workers and leaders unaware, as AAP leaders not only barged into the state BJP headquarters, but squatted on the stairs and raised slogans demanding ouster of Gujarat Subordinate Services Selection Board (GSSSB) chairman Asit Vora in the paper leak case.
Woman BJP members allege molestation
Ahmedabad: Gandhinagar police officers said that BJP workers alleged that AAP workers, headed by Shivkumar, Pravin Ram, Ishudan Gadhvi, Gopal Italia, Nikhil Savani and Hasmukh Patel, not only broke into the gates and attacked the male members but also molested, snatched dupattas and gouged women workers of the ruling party.
“A mob of AAP workers pushed us (BJP women workers) and attacked us. Some of the women attacked us with sticks of their banners and then some of the male members of the AAP manhandled us and molested us,” said a woman worker of the BJP in her FIR with Infocity police.
She said that many male members of the AAP gouged them, and they wanted to click selfies with the injured BJP women workers, said the party worker in the FIR. She said that the accused were controlled by the police and the women workers of the BJP were rescued.
‘IB fails to pre-empt move’
The violence at Kamalam during a protest by the AAP workers showcased the failure of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), said BJP sources. “The AAP workers planned the protest and they called their party workers from various parts of the state. They stealthily brought the workers so that no one could see them gathering. This was a planned attack but the state IB could not sense it which led to a violence at the BJP office,” said a BJP leader. The Infocity police also mentioned in its FIR that the alleged attack by the AAP workers was a pre-planned criminal conspiracy against the ruling BJP workers.
It all started at sachivalaya
Apprehending trouble from AAP workers at the secretariat, the BJP government increased vigil at the gates of the sachivalaya and AAP workers were prevented from entering the premises of the secretariat. However, AAP changed its plan and the workers decided to stage a protest at the state BJP headquarters instead. AAP workers had announced that they would protest at the sachivalaya, seeking the ouster of Gujarat Subordinate Services Selection Board (GSSSB) chairman Asit Vora in the paper leak case.
AAP ‘barges’ into opposition space
Even as the opposition Congress party was busy with office meetings, the AAP looked to consolidate itself in the opposition space by taking up the head clerk examination paper leak issue in a big way. The Congress later announced that it will organize a bike rally from the party headquarters to the collectorate on Wednesday. “A meeting of Congress MLAs has also been convened on Tuesday, after which a delegation will meet the CM on the paper leak issue. The CM ought to ask pardon for the fiasco,” said a party release quoting GPCC president Jagdish Thakor.
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