BJP leader attacked with chair during Madhya Pradesh TV debate, 1 arrested

Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh:

Two people allegedly attacked a local BJP leader during a poll debate organized by a national news channel in Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, police said on Sunday.

Police have arrested a person in connection with an incident that took place on Saturday night at a venue in Nazarbagh where a news channel was organizing a debate, an official said.

He said representatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress, among others, participated in the debate.

Kotwali police station in-charge Anand Raj said the accused Himanshu Tiwari and Babar allegedly raised slogans against the BJP and made objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi speech.

Prafull Dwivedi, the BJP’s regional media chief, objected and the two allegedly threw a chair at him, he said.

Some local leaders stepped in to protect Dwivedi, leading to a scuffle, the official said.

He said that based on Dwivedi’s complaint, a case was registered against the alleged accused under sections 499 (defamation), 294 (obscene conduct), 323 (intentional causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

While Babar has been arrested, a manhunt is on for Tiwari who is absconding, the official said.

District Congress president Naveen Sahu clarified that the accused had nothing to do with his party and were only present as spectators.

This is the second such incident during a poll debate organized by a Madhya Pradesh news channel.

Earlier on April 13, workers and leaders of the Congress and the BJP allegedly attacked each other with sticks and plastic chairs during a debate organized by a news channel at a park in Jabalpur.

Video of the incident emerged on social media, in which some people can be seen grappling with each other and throwing plastic chairs at each other.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)