Shaktimaan, the white State police horse, which was injured during the March 14 BJP rally, continued to cast its shadows on the Assembly proceedings on Wednesday, the sixth day of the ongoing Budget session.
BJP legislator from Mussoorie Ganesh Joshi repeatedly averred that he was innocent and that a section of the electronic media, in particular, had been vilifying him.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat, however, said the BJP was hardly in a position to wash its hands of the unfortunate incident.
Significantly, to pressure the State Government to have the FIR against Joshi withdrawn, State BJP president Ajay Bhatt staged a two-hour sit-in on Wednesday at the site where Shaktimaan had its hinder leg injured. Bhatt demanded forensic probe to fix things regarding the case.
Meanwhile, the BJP led by Madan Kaushik sought to bring an adjournment motion under Section 310 in the Assembly, saying that they were being falsely framed in concocted cases when the law and order was crumbling in the State. The Speaker, Govind Singh Kunjwal, took up the motion albeit under Section 58.
As Joshi who has remained in the eye of the storm defended himself, saying that police had lodged the FIR influenced by the malicious media propaganda, Kaushik alleged that the BJP MlAs were being implicated in false cases. "We regret to say that MlA Ganesh Joshi who has been working very hard in his constituency is the latest of being falsely implicated," he said.
Rejecting to the Opposition charge, parliamentary affairs minister Indira Hridayesh said that she had received a request from Washington (from Maneka Gandhi, a Union Minister and animal rights activist) to take action against the guilty of the unfortunate matter. "You had better explain yourself in Delhi rather than in the House," she sarcastically said.
Kaushik continued to attack the Congress Government, saying that panicky with the mammoth turnout during the March 14 rally, the State Government had deployed cane-wielding police and mounted police. Water cannon was unleashed on the participants of the rally, he said, adding that hundreds of BJP workers had been admitted in hospitals. "However, the Chief Minister went to see the injured Shaktimaan, but did not bother to see Jitendra Soni, now admitted in a private hospital, who was injured as he went under the hoofs of the mounted police. What MlA Joshi did was to push the rampaging mounted police back. The horse fell on the ground with one of his legs being stuck in a pothole. However, goaded by the ruling party, police slapped him with an FIR and charges under a draconian Act," the BJP MlA said.
Ganesh Joshi said that police had booked him under serious charges because of his soaring acceptance among the people of Mussoorie. Voice choking with emotion, he said he had submitted an unedited video clipping to the Speaker to help him do an impartial probe and fix responsibility. "If I am proven guilty I am ready to embrace stringent punishment," Joshi said, throwing a dare to the State Government.
Taking on the Opposition allegation, the CM said that the BJP could not deny its responsibility in the incident. "Political parties are free to stage rallies. However, they tried to jump the barrier. Police exercised exemplary restraint," he said.
Referring to Shaktimaan, the CM said police probing the case would fix the responsibility. Explaining his visit to the State police stable to see the injured horse, he said that he was facing a queer predicament. "Had I not seen it the people would have called me insensitive. Now, I am being slammed for being hyper-active," CM said.