A corporator from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) was beaten by BJP members, after he opposed a condolence proposal moved by the BJP at a special session of the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), which was called to pay tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Vajpayee passed away on Thursday, 16 August. He was 93 years of age.
In a video that soon went viral, Syed Mateen, the AIMIM corporator in question, was seen being thrashed by BJP corporators, including the deputy mayor, Vijay Autade, Raj Wankhede, Pramod Rathod, Madhuri Adwant and Dilip Thorat, The Hindu reports.
While Mateen was escorted from the premises by security personnel, the incident subsequently led to a scuffle between the workers of the two parties outside the AMC.
Criticizing Mateen’s antics, workers from various parties reportedly demanded that Mayor Nandkumar Ghodele take strict action against the former. Their demands included the scrapping of his membership and a lodging of a case on sedition, against him, the report adds.
Responding to the call to take action against him, Mateen told the newspaper:
I opposed the ‘Shraddhanjali’ proposal in a democratic manner. I will take legal action against those who assaulted me.Syed Mateen to The Hindu
The AIMIM in turn, criticized the BJP’s attack on their corporator, while distancing itself from the controversial remarks he had reportedly made.
“Mateen is known for pulling such stunts and our corporators have tried to dissuade him from such behaviour. Our party does not subscribe to his actions. At the same time, we strongly condemn the manner in which the BJP corporators assaulted him in the House,” Imtiaz Jaleel, AIMIM legislator told The Hindu.
Asking the Mayor to reprimand Mateen instead of stricter action, Jaleel also told the newspaper that an AIMIM delegation had already met with the Aurangabad Commissioner of Police, and were contemplating filing a complaint against the relevant BJP corporators.
(With inputs from The Hindu)
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