Uttarakhand BJP, Congress workers clash over Rafale deal issue

The BJP and the Congress workers clashed over the Rafale deal issue at Congress Bhawan here, a senior police official said.

Minutes before senior Congress leader Kumari Selja was to address a press conference over the Rafale deal issue at the party office here Wednesday, the BJP workers allegedly stormed into its precincts and started tearing off the posters and banners leading to a clash with the Congress workers, who resisted, he said.

The BJP workers even clashed with police personnel when they tried to stop them, Pradesh Congress president Pritam Singh said.

The BJP workers, who had gathered at Astley Hall to burn an effigy of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who they claimed was "misleading the nation over Rafale". They broke the barricades and marched towards Congress Bhawan located nearby,  Additional Director General law and order Ashok Kumar said.

As per a complaint lodged with police by the Congress leaders, the vandalism by the BJP workers at the party office was meant to disrupt a press conference by Selja on the Rafale deal.  The deputy inspector general has been asked to look into the allegations made by the Congress, the ADG said.

The BJP workers said the Congress president was "spreading lies" about Rafale despite the fact that the Supreme Court had found nothing wrong in the deal. 

"Despite the chinks in his own armour, Rahul Gandhi has used unparliamentary language against the prime minister, calling him a thief and lowering the dignity of the top office, " BJP Mahanagar president Vinay Goel said.

When asked about the vandalism at the Congress office, Goel said the BJP workers were only peacefully protesting.

Condemning the incident, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Pritam Singh said it reflected the frustration prevailing in the BJP ranks over the party's electoral loss in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

He said the Congress will demonstrate against the BJP all over the state by burning the Bharatiya Janata Party's effigy at every district headquarters.