72.51 pc voting recorded in 2nd phase of LS polls in Chhattisgarh
To ensure the smooth conduct of the polls, over 2,22,000 security personnel were deployed.
A BJP leader bashed up a journalist in the presence of the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai during his day-long visit to Ambikapur, Surguja.
Ajay Agrawal attacked Sushil Kumar when he, along with fellow journalists, was covering the chief minister’s arrival in a designated area reserved for the media.
At the time of the incident, BJP’s former vice-president of the municipal corporation Ajay Agrawal, also known as Ajjoo, was asked by the scribe to move away from the area reserved for journalists so that he could have visuals for a news channel. Enraged by the audacity of the journo, the BJP leader from the Surajpur district, started physically assaulting journalist Sushil Kumar Bakla while hurling abuses at him before anyone could comprehend what was going on.
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The incident occurred when BJP leaders, including party in-charge Om Mathur and the two deputy chief ministers, ministers, and legislators had gathered to felicitate party workers in Ambikapur. Despite efforts by some to salvage the situation, BJP workers, driven by a craze for publicity, joined in the attack on a helpless media person with the chief minister in tow.
After the incident, media personnel expressed their deep anguish over the unfortunate development even as the chief minister and both his deputies opted to remain silent. The battered journalist, Sushil Kumar, filed a complaint at Gandhi Nagar police station.
Reacting to the incident, Congress called it the beginning of hooliganism of BJP leaders. Party’s district president Rakesh Gupta condemned the assault on journalist, stating that violence by BJP leaders against tribal journalists is deplorable.
Congress leader Amarjeet Bhagat said the chief minister’s silence after the journalist filed a complaint is regrettable. He described the incident in Ambikapur as shameful and unacceptable.
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