Over four dozen Congressmen including senior leaders were injured when the Party workers fought pitch battle with the police, who stopped them from proceeding towards Vidhan Sabha on Monday afternoon.
The cops opened lathi-charge on the Congress activists to which the protesters replied with stone pelting. While majority of the leaders were chased away by the cops, 1500 activists were arrested. They were taken to Reserve Police lines from where they were later released in the evening.
later in the evening, all senior leaders which included state president Nirmal Khatri, AICC general secretary, Madhusudan Mistri, former state president, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, all in one voice condemned the police brutality and alleged that the government is using state machinery to crush the voice of the Opposition. They even demanded a judicial probe into the matter and action against the officials who used force on the innocent workers.
According to reports, over 7000 of Congress workers including many senior former MPs and central ministers gathered at lakshman Mela Ground on the banks of Gomati on Monday noon. The Party as per their announcement left the ground to proceed to the State Assembly and staged a demonstration against the Samajwadi Party government. However, as they reached Ashok Marg, district administration which refused to give permission to proceed further, put barricades on their way.
As the Congress leaders tried to force open the barricades, the cops used batons to push them back. However, the situation took a violent turn when some youth wing members pelted stones at the police party. This led to massive lathi charge in which over four dozen Congressmen including Nirmal Khatri, Madhusudan Mistri, Raj Babbar, Sanjay Singh, Shree Prakash Jaiswal, Pramod Tewari etc were injured and shifted to hospitals for treatment. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who sat on dharna against the lathi charge was also arrested by the police.
later the cops caned the workers to chase them away and had also claimed to have arrested 1500 workers. They were later loaded on buses and shifted to reserve police lines. One additional city magistrate and few cops along with some scribes and photo-journalists, too, were injured during the incident. Sources said that the administration on Monday morning also stopped many buses loaded with Congress leaders to enter the city limit while effigy of the chief minister, which the Party activists were carrying to burn it in protest, has been also snatched in different parts of the city.
The State Congress had called for a Vidhan Sabha gherao against the law and order, corruption, increase in power tariff, non-payment of dues to cane farmers and other anti-people approach of the Samajwadi Party government. The dharna was planned as the Monsoon Session of the State assembly was also underway at present.