BJYM leader thrashes tribal in MP, booked; Congress seeks CM Chouhan's resignation

A viral video of a BJYM leader allegedly beating a tribal man with slippers in Anuppur district after a road accident created a political storm in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh with the Congress on Wednesday accusing the ruling BJP of failing to check atrocities against tribals.

MP Congress president Kamal Nath alleged the BJP is becoming a party of ''tribal atrocities'' and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha is the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The BJP said it was a ''sad and unfortunate'' incident but alleged that one of the two accused involved in the assault is an office-bearer of Congress.

Police have registered a case under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused BJYM leader, who has been expelled by the organisation.

Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Sumit Kerketta said one Hirwa Singh Gond (57) and Bhoma Singh (60) were travelling on a motorcycle from Rajendra Nagar to Anuppur when their two-wheeler collided with a pick-up vehicle on Monday.

Bhoma Singh died on the spot following which a large number of people gathered at the location, the SDOP said, adding two persons beat up Gond, who was riding the motorcycle.

In the video, a man is seen lying roadside while two persons, including one holding slippers, are thrashing him.

The two accused, identified as Jitendra Kushwaha and Ganesh Dixit, were booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the police officer said. A probe has been launched and further legal steps are being taken, he added.

BJP's Anuppur district president Ramdas Puri said Dixit, who was BJYM Mandal president (rural), has been expelled from the organisation.

''The BJP believes in social service and there is no place for violence in the party,'' he said.

Sharing a video of the assault on his X account, Nath on Wednesday said a BJP leader was beating a tribal man with slippers.

''The BJP is becoming a party of tribal atrocities in Madhya Pradesh. What do you want? When you cannot stop atrocities on tribals then at least resign from the post of Chief Minister, '' the former chief minister said.

Referring to the Sidhi urination incident, Nath claimed Madhya Pradesh tops in tribal atrocities. BJP workers have been given the licence to commit atrocities against tribals, he alleged.

AICC general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that ''power-drunk leaders of BJP have crossed all limits of inhumanity against the tribal society''.

Addressing reporters in Bhopal, he said Chouhan should resign from the post of chief minister.

Madhya Pradesh has the largest tribal population in the country but tribals have been suffering inhuman torture for 18 years under the BJP regime, Surjewala alleged. “What is the reason that so many atrocities are being committed on the tribals in the Vindhya region only by the people of BJP? All this is due to they are drunk on power and the police are not taking action against them even when they commit crimes. Now the opportunity has come to teach BJP a lesson,” Congress leader Digvijaya Singh stated on X. Speaking on the incident, state BJP spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi claimed Jitendra Kushwaha, one of two accused in the assault case, is an office-bearer of Congress.

“This is a sad and an unfortunate incident. But before doing politics, Congress should answer this. One of the accused Kushwaha, a resident of Didwapani, was arrested during a Congress protest against the BJP government along with district Youth Congress president Guddu Chouhan,'' he said.

''The cases were registered against Congress leader Kushwaha for the protest on March 24 and August 9 this year,” Chaturvedi claimed. He said a case was registered against Kushwaha in Kotwali police station of Anuppur.

As the issue (assault) came to light, the police immediately took action and registered a case, the BJP spokesman said, adding that “There is rule of law in Madhya Pradesh”.