Ahmedabad: BJP, Congress workers clash during TV debate

AHMEDABAD: Heated arguments during a political debate organized by a news channel took an ugly turn when members of the ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress started scuffling and exchanging unparliamentary words. The programme was being shot on the Sabarmati riverfront near Paldi, on Sunday evening.

Among those present were BJP’s Ahmedabad West MP Kirit Solanki; former Rajya Sabha member of the Congress, Raju Parmar; and the president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Gujarat, Rutvij Patel.

At one stage during the debate, slogans began to be shouted against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. “The workers of both parties suddenly started a scuffle,” said a police official. “The two senior leaders, Solanki and Parmar, also approached each other aggressively. Patel was rescued by police when he was mobbed by Congress members.”

Cops then controlled the situation. But later, members of both parties went to the Sabarmati Riverfront (West) police station seeking to lodge complaints. Another round of fight ensued there.

An official of the police station said that both the parties wanted to file the FIR first. They had asked women members to lodge a complaint of assault and molestation.

Police sub-inspector V H Thakor, in charge of the police station, confirmed the incident and said that two FIRs will be lodged.

“Since the members of the two parties sat together, it was hard to ascertain who provoked the fight,” said an official of the Sabarmati Riverfront (West) police station. A team of the city crime branch also reached the spot.