BJP workers attacked my convoy: Ex-UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya
Gorakhpur (UP), Mar 1: Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who is fighting the state assembly elections from Fazilnagar constituency in the Kushinagar district after quitting the BJP, on Tuesday accused the saffron party workers of attacking his convoy during electioneering.
Maurya's daughter Sanghmitra Maurya who is a BJP MP too supported her father's allegation as the Samajwadi Party condemned the alleged attack by power-protected miscreants.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav too condemned the attack and vowed to "reduce the BJP to zero in the remaining two phases of the elections".
Maurya alleged that the BJP workers, armed with lathis and stones attacked his convoy near Vishupura Khanwa Patti village in Fazilnagar assembly constituency during his roadshow, injuring many of his workers and damaging several vehicles.
He said his driver's ear got damaged in the attack.
The former minister said he escaped unharmed as he was sitting in a different vehicle which managed to get past the miscreants' mob.
"The attack was the part of a planned conspiracy. The BJP people attacked us armed with sticks, arms and stones in a systematic manner," Maurya said.
"My driver's ear got damaged. Many vehicles were damaged and hundreds of our workers were beaten up. I was sitting in another vehicle, hence it moved ahead," he said.
Fazilnagar constituency goes to the polls on March 3 during the sixth phase of the seven-phase UP assembly elections and Tuesday was the last day for the campaigning.
Sanghmitra Maurya who, sources say, has been campaigning for her father for the last three to four days, too supported his allegation.
The damaged vehicles are proof of the attack. Not only this. When I was coming to Fazilnagar after hearing about the attack, the BJP workers surrounded my car too even though I am a BJP MP," she said, accusing the BJP candidate of being behind the attack.
She also appealed to the people of the constituency to vote for her father.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav condemned the attack.
He said in a tweet, "The attack on Swami Prasad Mauryaji is a very condemnable act of the people who are losing.
This attack is similar to the attack on the workers and the leaders of every party of the SP alliance. Together we will answer this by reducing the BJP to zero in the remaining two phases. It is meaningless to expect any action from this government," he added.
Condemning the attack, the Samajwadi Party too said in a tweet, "Battered by the unprecedented public support to the SP, the attack on the convoy of the dalit-backward leader, former minister Swami Prasad Maurya by power-protected miscreants in Fazilnagaris highly condemnable and sad! The Election Commission should take action and get the attackers arrested. People will answer with their votes."
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) March 1, 2022
स्वामी प्रसाद मौर्या जी पर हुआ हमला हारते हुए लोगों की अति निंदनीय हरकत है।
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) March 1, 2022
ये हमला सपा-गठबंधन के हर दल के कार्यकर्ता व उनके नेताओं के ऊपर किये गये हमले के समान है। सब मिलकर इसका जवाब बाकी दो चरणों में भाजपा को ज़ीरो करके देंगे।
इस सरकार से किसी कार्रवाई की अपेक्षा ही बेमानी है।
निर्धारित रूट पर रोड शो करते वक्त भाजपा के गिरोह बंद लोगों द्वारा मेरे ऊपर व काफिले में चल रही गाड़ियों को बुरी तरह से तोड़फोड़ व कार्यकर्ताओं पर जानलेवा हमला करना भाजपा की हताशा की प्रतीक है। मैं घोर निंदा करता हूं, लोकतंत्र को लाठी-डंडे कट्टे व हिंसा से कमजोर नहीं किया जा सकता।
— Swami Prasad Maurya (@SwamiPMaurya) March 1, 2022
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
