Raipur: Congress and BJP workers clash over Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ashes

By Sandeep PradhanFirst Published Oct 16, 2018, 6:39 PM IST
Highlights

After being informed about the protest, BJP workers started gathering at the office leading to a clash with Congress supporters. To avert any untoward incident, police rushed to the spot and used mild force

Raipur: A clash broke out between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party workers on Tuesday, outside the office of the ruling BJP party. The police rushed to the spot and averted any untoward incident.

In response to a news report in the local media where it claimed that BJP was insulting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by keeping his ashes at the party’s office, Congress workers, accompanied by senior party leaders, rushed to Ekatma Parisar, the BJP headquarter, and started staging a demonstration and demanded that they handover Vajpayee’s ashes.

After being informed about the protest, BJP workers started gathering at the office leading to a clash with Congress supporters. To avert any untoward incident, police rushed to the spot and used mild force.

When the clash erupted, a meeting, in the presence of Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh was underway at the party’s office.

Vajpayee died in Delhi at the age of 93, on August 16, and he was cremated in the national capital the next day. His ashes (asthi kalash) were immersed in rivers across the country.

Meanwhile, BJP’s senior leaders have denied the allegations and said that the pots kept in the party office are filled with soils collected from different areas of the state for construction of Atalji's statue.

Police have arrested few Congress leaders including Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee chief Bhupesh Baghel and others.

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