Jharkhand police on Friday hurled tear gas and used water cannons to disperse Bharatiya Janata Party (BJYM) workers who broke barricades at a protest rally against the “injustice” of the Hemant Soren government and its “failure to Fulfill election promises”.
Protesters who gathered at the rally and tried to march towards Chief Minister Hemant Soren's official residence near the Morabadi Stadium, where the protest was held, were attacked with police batons.
BJP leaders claimed that several workers were injured during police baton charges, with party leader Amar Kumar Bauri asserting that “it is time to eliminate the JMM-led alliance from the state”.
“No one can stop us,” he said.
The district administration implemented Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), which superseded Section 144 of the CrPC, within a radius of 500 meters of the Morabadi Stadium (excluding the venue).
The injunction bans public gatherings, rallies, rallies, demonstrations and gatherings of five or more people in the area between 11am and 11pm on Friday.
Furthermore, the carrying of weapons, ammunition, explosives and traditional weapons such as lathes, spears, bows and arrows is prohibited, as is the use of loudspeakers in the area, an official press release said.
A police official said Yang Yong's staff violated the ban.
Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police Chandan Kumar Sinha said: “Permission was not sought for the rally, but permission was sought for the 'sammelan' or meeting, which was granted. Outside the perimeter of the Morabadi Stadium , we have enacted a prohibition order and therefore do not allow any gatherings. We have also made full arrangements to call on organizers to limit events to meetings only.
“We have put up roadblocks near the Chief Minister's residence and Morabadhi Stadium to prevent any untoward incident,” another police official said.
He said police fired batons at protesters to prevent them from walking towards the chief minister's home.
Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party gathered at Morabadi Square, where the BJP leader planned to address the “Yuva Akrosh Rally”.
During the rally, a scuffle broke out between police personnel and workers of the Yang and Bharatiya Janata Party led by party leader CP Singh.
The BJP said the ban was imposed to “silence the voices of workers of the Indian Movement” against the “injustice” perpetrated by the Hemant Soren government, which it claimed was less than two months away from being deported. months time.
Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan attacked the JMM government, claiming that it was trying to “silence the voice of workers” and this would prove to be the “final nail in its (JMM government's) coffin”.
The order states that some organizations or political parties are planning to hold rallies, demonstrations and rallies in which protesters are likely to occupy the Chief Minister's official residence.
“Such activities may interfere with government work, affect traffic, cause security problems and cause disturbances in public places.” Therefore, a prohibition order has been implemented.
Chouhan attacked the JMM-led government, claiming that it was preventing BJYM workers from reaching Ranchi from various districts as many buses were impounded.
He alleged that the BJP workers were forced to get off their vehicles and travel to Ranchi from various districts throughout the night.
“A barbed wire fence has been erected around the Morabadi ground… Even Ravana's arrogance did not last long and if you think you can silence the voice through force, you will not succeed,” Chauhan said.
“Only a frightened chief minister (Hemant Soren) would resort to this approach. He can neither run the government nor the party. The contribution of the Hemant Soren regime to the country was 7,812 murders, 7,115 rapes, 6,937 kidnappings, 8,792 riots, 2,721 robberies, 485 robberies and 2,73,261 other crimes.
“Infiltrators are looting tribal lands and open loot is everywhere. When BJYM workers ask about poll promises like 500,000 jobs, their voices are silenced,” he claimed.
Claiming that the days of the JMM-led regime were numbered, Chouhan said: “How can you silence our voices when even former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi could not silence them”.
Union Minister Sanjay Seth claimed that the Hemant Soren government “is afraid of the BJP as it has failed to fulfill its promises to the youth”.
Deepak Prakash, a member of the Federal Assembly and former state president of the BJP, said that the people have issued a clarion call to “vacate the throne”.
“For Hemant Sauron, the message is clear: 'To the throne, the people have come'”, he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Babulal Marandi said they had sought permission for the plan.
“The police acted as JMM workers and tried to prevent our activists from reaching here. Democracy gives us the right to assemble,” Marandi said.
Members of the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party planned to hold the rally to protest against the Hemant Soren-led government's alleged failure to fulfill the promises made during the last assembly elections.
A large turnout of Bharatiya Janata Party workers, backed by the BJP, was seen in Ranchi during the day, as they planned to march to Soren's residence seeking answers to issues regarding employment, unemployment benefits and other issues that have been highlighted during the 2019 assembly elections. -The visitor said.
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)