Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Rohtak MP Arvind Sharma on Saturday, 6 November, reacted to farmers gheraoing former minister Manish Grover in a temple in Rohtak issuing a threat to the Congress and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda.
"Congress and Deepender Hooda should listen that if anyone dares to look towards Manish Grover then we'll take their eyes out. If they put hands on him then their hands will be chopped off," Sharma said, addressing a crowd, reported ANI.
Grover was gheraoed by angry farmers inside a temple in Kiloi village in Rohtak district on Friday, 5 November.
Several senior BJP leaders, including Grover and Rohtak Mayor Manmohan Goyal, were kept hostage for nearly eight hours by protesting farmers at a temple in Kaloi village in Haryana's Rohtak. They were later allowed to go, reports said.
When protesting farmers found out that Jangra was visiting, they gathered around his vehicle and raised slogans against him. Despite police barricading the place, the protesters managed to allegedly attack his car and smash its windscreen.
The farmers alleged that “BJP goons” had attacked them, seriously injuring one of the protesters, reported The Indian Express. The farmers demanded that a First Information Report (FIR) be lodged against Jangra and his men, but the police denied the farmers' claims.
What Happened on Friday, 5 November?
The BJP leaders had reportedly gathered at the temple to watch Prime Minister Narendra Modi's live telecast from Kedarnath temple, where he performed an aarti.
The farmers reportedly locked the main entrance of the Shiva temple in the village, cut the wire of the LED screen from outside, and also removed the air of the vehicles of the leaders parked outside. Police forces were also deployed at the temple and in the area in order to defuse the situation.
Why Were the Leaders Locked In?
"Samyukt Kisan Morcha has called for a boycott of BJP-JJP party leaders till the three farm laws are repealed and a law is made on MSP," Preet Singh, District President, Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha, told news agency ANI.
Explaining the reason for the action taken by the farmers, Singh added that in spite of knowing that they are socially boycotted in these villages, the BJP leaders had come to the village without taking their permission.
"We demand that they apologise to villagers and not do this again," he said.
The farmers have said that the leaders were finally allowed to go after Grover apologised to them.
District President Ajay Bansal, Satish Nandal, BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha National Vice President Ram Avtar Balmiki, Senior Deputy Mayor Rajkamal Sehgal, Mahila Morcha district president Usha Sharma, and BJP Yuva Morcha district president Naveen Dhul were among those who were locked in the temple on Friday.
Meanwhile, in Hisar
On the same day, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra found himself at the receiving end of farmers' anger after reportedly calling the agitators “jobless alcoholics from villages” on Thursday, 4 November, reacting to a protest by the farmers.
He had gone to Hisar's Narnaud to inaugurate a community centre, Hindustan Times reported. After his remark, he faced slogans and black flags by a group of farmers and the windshield of his car was also smashed, officials said.
"After concluding my programme, I was on my way to attend another function when some people threw lathis on my car, leaving it damaged. No one was hurt," Jangra told reporters, according to NDTV. He added that he has spoken to the Haryana DGP and the SP regarding the incident and demanded strict punishment against those behind it.
"This is a clear murder attempt," he added.
Amid this, a scuffle also ensued between the farmers and the police deployed in Hisar on Friday.
(With inputs from NDTV, ANI, and Hindustan Times.)
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