ANGRY OVER comments made against Rani Lakshmi Bai by former BSP MLA Phool Singh Baraiya, BJP workers have allegedly disrupted a programme organised by the leader’s new party, Bahujan Sangharsh Dal, to pay tribute to Dalit student Rohith Vemula at Jhansi on Sunday. Baraiya made a hasty exit from the event after BJP workers allegedly pelted stones at his car. BJP worker Sudhir Singh later got an FIR lodged against him at Nawabad police station. Baraiya is a former BSP MLA from Bhander in Madhya Pradesh. He had set up BSD after he was expelled from BSP in 2003. “We had organised a programme to pay tribute to Rohith Vemula at Kunj Vatika marriage hall in Jhansi. When Baraiya was speaking, BJP workers stormed the hall and tore pictures of Dalit icons like Ambedkar, Savitribai Phule, Jhalkari Bai and even Rohith Vemula. We somehow saved Baraiya and his car was stoned,” said Dr Rajaram Bijol, BSD in-charge of Bundelkhand region and the organiser of the event. He alleged that policemen present at the programme informed BJP workers of the incident and they reached the venue in large numbers. When contacted, Baraiya said: “I did not say anything on my own. I just quoted from Kashinath Tripathi’s book — Bundelkhand Ka Vrihad Itihas: Rajtantra sey Jantantra Tak. It clearly mentions that Rani Lakshmi Bai led the rebels as she was afraid for her life. She did not die fighting but Veerangana Jhalkari Bai did.” BJP MLA from Jhansi, Ravi Sharma, said people who attended the programme objected to Baraiya’s statement and informed others on the phone. “It is a matter of our aastha. How can we tolerate anything against Jhansi Ki Rani and that too in Jhansi. It was a deliberate attempt to spread tension,” Sharma added. Later, Sharma reached Nawabad police station and staged a dharna. “We staged a dharna because the SHO was not present at the police station. Due to the delay, the organisers of the event might have left the scene. Party workers accompanied me. If no action is taken, we will again agitate,” Sharma added. He, however, denied that the venue of the event was ransacked. Nawabad SHO A K Singh said a case has been registered against Baraiya.
