Youth Congress workers detained outside Nagpur BJP office; BJYM protest follows at police station

Tension gripped the Ganeshpeth area of Nagpur after midnight when Youth Congress workers protested outside the BJP city office over the action against Rahul Gandhi in Delhi. Police detained the protesters, and BJP Yuva Morcha workers then gathered at the local police station in a counter-demonstration.

The trigger was events in the capital on October 6. MPs and leaders of the INDIA bloc marched out to gherao the Election Commission, alleging irregularities in the election process and flaws in the voter list. Delhi Police detained Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, along with other opposition leaders. Sharp reactions followed from political circles. Several accounts of the Nagpur incident describe the action against him as an arrest.

At about 12.30 am, Youth Congress workers reached the BJP office in Ganeshpeth and raised slogans in support of Gandhi's protest. It is being said that a large number of workers turned up, and that they tried to get inside the building. This came a few days after BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule had allegedly dared the Congress. He is reported to have said: "If you have the courage, enter the RSS office or the BJP office and show us."

Ganeshpeth police reached the spot on hearing of the protest and detained the workers so that matters would not get out of hand. About 20 Congress workers were held at Ganeshpeth police station until late at night. The detentions angered the Congress workers further.

BJP Yuva Morcha workers, learning of the protest, then arrived at the police station to answer it. The demonstration was led by the Yuva Morcha's city president, Sachin Karare. The workers shouted slogans against the Congress for hours and demanded action against the Youth Congress members, who they said had protested outside the BJP office without permission and without reason.

During the protest, some Yuva Morcha workers tried to force their way into the police station. Police pushed them out using force, and put extra security arrangements in place to keep the situation under control.

With members of both sides standing face to face, the atmosphere in Ganeshpeth stayed tense until late at night. Police stepped up their presence in the area to prevent any untoward incident. The sequence ran from the attempt to enter the BJP office, to the detentions, to the demonstration at the police station. The episode has brought the rivalry between the Congress and the BJP in Nagpur into focus once again. Police are keeping a watch on the situation, and security remains in place.