Sinha relates beating incident in Rajya Sabha

“I would not stand alive before your eyes if my workers had not saved me ,” told senior BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha to members of Rajya Sabha in New Delhi. Satyen Mohapatra reports.

“I would not stand alive before your eyes if my workers had not saved me ,” told senior BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha to members of Rajya Sabha in New Delhi on Tuesday. He was narrating police action on BJP workers in Ranchi recently during which he was injured.

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Deputy chairman K Rahman Khan said the matter was serious and the whole House was condemning it. He directed that the Home Minister report on the steps taken by the government in this matter.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Sinha said

he along with other party workers were going towards Raj Bhavan to hold a peaceful demonstration to demand dissolution of the state assembly in Jharkhand, now under President's rule, to avoid horsetrading.

As they moved forward demolishing the extremely weak barricades which had been set up,he said, at no point did the local police announce that the workers will be arrested.

Near Raj Bhavan red coloured water cannons were used on them and there after “without any provocation police started brutal lathi charge”.

Amidst shouts of "shame" from the opposition benches, he said the police started beating up BJP workers and targeted him and former Chief Minister Arjun Munda. He along with Munda and others were injured.

Despite his pleadings of being injured and bleeding and being given first aid or taken to hospital, police did not make any arrangement for first aid but pointing out that they were being arrested for violating Prohibitory orders “forcibly dragged us while we lay on the ground like a sack and dumped us in a jeep.”

Afterwards they were let off and his workers took him to a private hospital but then, he said, the issue is “Why we were let off and not arrested.”

He alleged, “They knew who I am and targeted me deliberately.” “ We were ready to be arrested. The lathi charge was excessive, unexpected,unwarranted and without warning,”he added.

The former Union Minister said an MP's privilege has been violated and demanded action against the guilty.Rahman Khan said a privilege notice in this regard was under the consideration of the Chairman.

Dr Bimal Jalan said the incident showed that there is total collapse of law and order in the state.If this can happen to a person of eminence, what about the ordinary citizen who is not protected by any

Privilege, he asked.

Ms Jaya Bachchan said that a month ago two members of Rajya Sabha had been arrested and not allowed to move out of Gorakhpur airport.