Police detain 18 BJP workers protesting outside Congress Bhavan in Pune

The animosity rose after BJP's Pune city president Dhiraj Ghate put up hoardings condemning Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Hindus in the context of BJP.

BJP workers protest, pune news, indian express

Police have taken away the BJP protesters at Savarkar Bhavan chowk while marching towards Congress Bhavan after the war of words between both parties followed by Rahul Gandhi’s Parliament speech. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

Tension arose outside Congress Bhavan on Wednesday evening after BJP workers staged a protest against city Congress chief Arvind Shinde for his statement against city BJP chief Dhiraj Ghate. The police brought the situation under control and detained 18 BJP workers as a preventive measure.

The animosity rose after BJP’s Pune city president Dhiraj Ghate put up hoardings condemning Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Hindus in the context of BJP.

Shinde on Wednesday morning made a statement reacting to the banners put up by Ghate across the city, which said that the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi were against the Hindu religion and its followers.

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“City BJP chief does not have the right to speak against the Congress and create a false narrative. Ghate himself has to move with police security for the deeds he did so far. What fear does he have if he has not done anything wrong?,” Shinde said.

Also Read | Security beefed up outside Rahul Gandhi’s residence amid reports of possible disturbance by right-wing groups

In the evening, BJP party workers staged a protest outside Congress Bhavan. “The BJP will respond to Congress leaders in the same way as they are behaving. The protest was against statements by Shinde. We will initiate legal action against him,” said Ghate.

Police officials said that some BJP workers were detained during the protest to avoid any untoward incident. Deputy Commissioner Police (Zone 1) Sandeep Singh Gill said, “We detained some people under the sections 68 and 69 of the Bombay Police Act as a preventive measure and later released them.” The provisions empower the police to restrain persons who resist or refuse to abide by the orders of the police officers.

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