He caught attention by wearing a helmet to a rally organised in protest against a stone-pelting incident. For former Chhattisgarh minister and BJP MLA Ajay Chandrakar, it was a way to send a message to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu that “the state police is not available for public duty but only for VVIP duties”.
Chandrakar, who is the MLA from Kurud in Dhamtari district, was pelted with stones after he finished addressing a gathering in Durg district’s Supela village on Monday.
Though no one was hurt, the MLA blamed the Congress, the ruling party, for the attack and wore a cricket helmet the following day at a public meeting in Durg city.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Chandrakar said, “I tried sending a message to the chief minister and the home minister that the Chhattisgarh police is not available for public duty but only for VVIP duties. Some (cops) are looking after someone’s (politician’s) dog while others are guarding wives, children, and residences (of politicians). That is why a new police force is needed for the general public. When a person like me, who is a former minister, can be attacked with stones, then you can imagine the plight of a common man. They are emboldening goons.”
On Wednesday, the BJP leader told the media, “The law-and-order situation in Durg is such that if an MLA is from the Opposition, then he is not safe. Stones are pelted in their meeting. I protested by wearing a helmet, but next time I will not use any safety gear. I will come here and, if there is firing, I will take a bullet in my chest.”
With less than a year to go for the Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, the BJP, as part of its “Congress Hatao, Chhattisgarh Bachao (Remove Congress, Save Chhattisgarh)” campaign has intensified its attacks on Baghel and his administration.
At the event in Supela on Monday, Chandrakar accused the government of corruption and alleged that it was promoting corrupt officials who “steal from farmers”. He asked the public to vote out the Congress in the Assembly elections.
According to an ANI report, Chandrakar took a dig at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at a press conference on Wednesday for questioning the BJP’s contribution to the freedom struggle.
“Which Congress leader attained martyrdom in the freedom struggle? Among those who gave their lives to the cause, none was a Congressman. Can Kharge ji name one person (belonging to the Congress) other than Lala Lajpat Rai, who died for the country?” he said.
He also hit back at Kharge for asking BJP leaders at a rally in Rajasthan’s Alwar on Monday, “Has even a dog in your home died for the country?” Chandrakar said, “Calling someone a dog is not a cultured language. Such language is the legacy of the Nehru-Gandhi family.”
Reacting to Chandrakar’s comments, state Congress media cell chief Sushil Anand Shukla said, “As far as the stone-pelting incident in Bhilai is concerned, it was done by BJP workers. The local police will find the culprits, but then the BJP will say that we are taking revenge. You may check the history of their party workers and you will find that BJP leaders have pointed guns at each other, abused, assaulted and even thrown chairs at one another. It’s their culture. Even the stone pelting must have been the work of one BJP faction or the other.”
Markets give up early gains; decline for third day
Jayprakash S NaiduJayprakash S Naidu is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Expres… read more
