A BJP leader in Uttar Pradesh was caught on camera assaulting a differently-abled man allegedly for saying he will vote for Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
In a widely-circulated video, the man is heard shouting “vote denge Akhilesh ko (will vote for Akhilesh)”.
Mohd Miya, a BJP leader, is seen hitting the man with a stick and poking at his face with it. The BJP leader abuses him and says, “hatt, hatt (go away).”
Facing outrage, Mohd Miya said the man was “drunk” and it was a “conspiracy to malign” the BJP. “He was abusing Modi ji and Yogi (Yogi Adityanath) ji. I tried to first explain things. He was drunk, it was a conspiracy to malign BJP. I was just trying to make him leave the place. I didn't shove stick in his mouth,” news agency ANI quoted the BJP leader as saying.
Following the outrage over the incident on social media, the BJP leader told news agneyc ANI that the man was drunk and was trying to malign BJP. "He was abusing Modi ji and Yogi ji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath), I tried to first explain things, he was drunk, it was a conspiracy to malign BJP, I was just trying to make him leave the place. I didn't shove a stick in his mouth," Mr Miya told news agency ANI.
The police have filed a case. “The case was registered last night, we have sent our teams to arrest the culprit,” Sudesh Kumar, CO, Sambhal told ANI on Wednesday.
Akhilesh Yadav was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh until he was voted out of power in March last year and replaced by Yogi Adityanath of the BJP.
(With inputs from agencies)
