Tiranga Yatra in Shimla: Congress MLA Vikramaditya Singh among 8 booked

Case against Congress MLA Vikramaditya Singh for unlawful assembly at The Ridge; Tiranga Yatra taken out in Shimla to counter SFJ’s threat to put up Khalistan flag

Congress MLA Vikramaditya Singh was among eight people booked for unlawful assembly on the Ridge in Shimla on Tuesday.

Besides Congress MLA Vikramaditya Singh, who led the Tiranga Yatra, the police registered a case under Sections 143 and 188 of the Indian Penal Code against state Youth Congress president Yadupati Thakur, Chattar Singh, Deepak Khurana, Rahul Mehra, Virender Banshtu, Amit Thakur and Rahul Chauhan. (HT File Photo)

Shimla Rural legislator Vikramaditya, who is the son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, led the Tiranga Yatra (Tricolour March) to counter the threat by the banned separatist outfit, Sikhs For Justice, that had threatened to put up a “Khalistan flag” at the Ridge. The banned outfit’s leader, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, had threatened Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur that its activists would put up the separatist flag and warned Vikramaditya against holding the Tiranga Yatra.

Besides Vikramaditya, the police registered a case under Sections 143 and 188 of the Indian Penal Code against state Youth Congress president Yadupati Thakur, Chattar Singh, Deepak Khurana, Rahul Mehra, Virender Banshtu, Amit Thakur and Rahul Chauhan.

The 3-km Tiranga Yatra with a 1,000-ft Tricolour started from the Himachal Pradesh assembly to the Ridge. He said the Tiranga Yatra was not a Congress event but organised by the citizens of Shimla and Himachal Pradesh.

“I want to make it clear to those separatist forces that we may be divided by political ideology but when it comes to the nation, we are all united and stand by the government and our chief minister,” Vikramaditya said.