Violence mars filing of papers for block panchayat chief in UP

Incidents of firing, clashes, verbal duels between opponents and accusations of obstructions in filing papers were reported in 17 different blocks in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, when filing of nominations for the post of block panchayat heads at 825 blocks across 75 districts were held, senior police officials said.

Additional director general of police (ADG), law and order, Prashant Kumar, however, said the incidents were reported from only 14 places.

He added that directives have been issued to district police authorities to ensure stern action against troublemakers. Stating that incidents of violence were reported away from nomination centres, Kumar admitted that it did cause law and order trouble, following which cases were filed.

The ADG also said that extra police arrangements have been ordered for Friday, when candidates can take back their nominations, and on Saturday, when voting will take place to elect the block panchayat chiefs.

Another police official said major trouble was reported from Sitapur’s Kasmanda block, where supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party and independent candidates scuffled while returning from the nomination centre. He said the incident led to firing between the supporters, in which three people suffered bullet injuries and were rushed to Lucknow for further treatment.

A local resident in the area, however, alleged that the incident took place even as police personnel were present at some distance from the nomination centre. A video of Sitapur violence, which has gone viral, purportedly shows police personnel running for shelter amid indiscriminate firing by troublemakers. HT cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.

In an incident, reported in Unnao’s Purwa block, the son of a BJP candidate alleged that the Samajwadi Party candidate in the block along with her supporters attacked and robbed him while he was returning home on Wednesday night. It led to a confrontation between supporters of the BJP and SP outside the nomination centre.

In Ambedkar Nagar, former Bahujan Samaj Party minister Lalji Verma accused BJP candidate Tejaswi Jaiswal of snatching nomination form from his hand and misbehaving while he was going to extend support to another candidate at Tanda block.

In Bahraich and Kannuaj, there were reports of stone-pelting between opponent groups, but no major injuries were reported, police said. Similar confrontations and verbal duels were also reported from Mainpuri, Siddarthnagar, Jaunpur, Ayodhya, Bulandshahr, Bijnor, Siddarthnagar, Amroha, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Pilibhit and Basti.