Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) — the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party — clashed with the police outside the U.P. Assembly here on Monday even as the budget session was on.

The police resorted to lathicharge and fired water cannons and teargas shells to disperse the mob protesting the deteriorating law and order situation in the State, rise in crime against women and rampant power cuts.

Some journalists covering the event were also injured in the melee while others were allegedly roughed up by the BJYM workers who also damaged some government vehicles.

While the police used force to quell the violence, the youth workers retaliated by allegedly throwing stones and lobbing teargas shells back at the police. Traffic near the busy Allahabad Bank crossing, Hazratganj and adjoining areas was thrown out of gear.

The BJYM protest took place on a day when the Union Home Minister and the national president of the BJP, Rajnath Singh, who is also the local MP, was on a two-day visit. The Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Kalraj Mishra, was also in Lucknow on Monday.

The demonstration was part of the BJP’s week-long protest against the Samajwadi Party government. The BJYM workers started gathering in the BJP headquarters near the Assembly since morning. As their numbers swelled, they forced open the heavily guarded main entrance of the BJP office and walked towards the Vidhan Sabha raising anti-government slogans.

Condemning the police action, Mr. Kalraj Mishra told reporters that in a democracy everyone had a right to air his grievances.

The issue also figured in the Assembly with the BJP MLAs demanding strict action against the police personnel.