MP: 3 Cops Injured Amid Bomb Blast, Stone Pelting During OBC Rally Against BJP

The protests came after Pritam Lodhi was expelled from the BJP following his remarks against Brahmins.

The protest rally, led by Lodhi community members, took place in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind on Thursday, 25 August.

(Photo: Video screensot)

A massive rally undertaken by Lodhi community members on Thursday, 25 August, in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind to protest against the expulsion of Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader Pritam Lodhi from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), turned violent after several protesters pelted stones at police officials.

Lodhi had been expelled by the BJP on 17 August over his remarks against Brahmins.

Following this, the Lodhi community, under the banner of the Akhil Bharatiya Lodhi-Lodha Rajput Mahasabha, took to the streets as a show of strength with the purpose of issuing a memorandum to the district headquarters with regard to the entire controversy. Pritam Lodhi also participated in the protest.

Amid the violence, a bomb blast also occurred in front of a police vehicle and was caught on CCTV camera.

Three policeman, including an inspector, were injured amid the stone pelting at Bhind's Subhash Tirahe and have been admitted to the district hospital.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police Kamlesh Kumar said that no prior permission had been obtained by the Lodhi community for the protest march, adding that the police is currently investigating the matter.

Background

Lodhi had been expelled by the BJP for a period of six years for allegedly insulting the Brahmin community during a speech in Shivpuri's Kharaih village.

Lodhi, a close aide of former chief minister Uma Bharati, was felicitating meritorious students and was addressing a gathering on the birth anniversary of queen Avantibai Lodhi on 17 August when he made the statements, as per NDTV.

In his speech, the leader allegedly accused Brahmins of fooling and harassing people in the name of religion.

"Seeing beautiful women from good families, they (the Brahmins) want to have food in the homes of those women. They (Brahmins) want young women seated in the front row and make elderly women sit in the back row," the leader allegedly said in his address to the gathering.

A video of Lodhi making these controversial remarks has also been making the rounds on social media.

In response to this, Praveen Mishra, a Brahmin leader from the BJP youth wing, lodged a First Information Report against the OBC leader at the Rannod police station.

Lodhi is a two-time MLA candidate from Madhya Pradesh Pichhore. He lost the previous Assembly election to Congress candidate KP Singh by a margin of 2,500 votes.