Two student outfits affiliated with rival political parties engaged in a brief scuffle during a protest rally at West Bengal’s Bardhaman town on Friday morning.
The clash featured supporters of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), prompting the police to rush to the spot and bring the situation under control.
Slogans and counter-slogans echoed the Old Grand Trunk Road in Bardhaman and traffic came to a halt when the two students’ unions locked horns over the protest.
ABVP alleged that SFI forcibly disrupted classes and tried to take students to the march.
SFI, however, denied the charge, claiming that ABVP obstructed them and abused the Left students’ body.
Both sides, however, after the commotion, surprisingly asserted their support for a non-political students’ movement.
The march began at Vivekananda College More and ended at Parbirhata Crossing on Old GT Road, followed by a street meeting.
The SFI staged a protest march demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in line with the nationwide movement condemning the alleged police lathi-charge on students protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.