india

Updated: Jan 21, 2020 07:26 IST

Nidhi Nivedita, Rajgarh district collector, on Monday said she led by example to instil a sense of confidence among police personnel, a day after a video went viral showing her slapping a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker during a pro-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest on Sunday.

She also alleged that a BJP worker abused her, which demoralised police personnel who were on duty to control the “unruly” crowd instigated by two former BJP lawmakers Mohan Sharma and Amar Singh Yadav.

“They (the BJP workers) were holding protests in violation of prohibitory orders and we were trying to persuade them to disperse when someone got hold of hair of a woman sub-divisional officer (Priya Verma) and abused police personnel. It was then I intervened,” she said.

She said the police also detained 10 people after lodging an FIR against 124 people including Sharma and Yadav for violating prohibitory orders.

The fracas in former chief minister and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh’s home turf has resulted in a war of words between the ruling party Congress and the opposition BJP.

“The party workers told a delegation that the collector wanted to repeat a Jallianwala Bagh at Vaishno Mandir at Biora. The party workers were reciting Sundarkand on the temple premises but the collector got one of the gates locked and started beating the workers, hence they ran out of the temple through another gate,” Madhya Pradesh BJP president, Rakesh Singh said.

Singh alleged that the collector snatched the national flags from the party workers and insulted the same. He also claimed that Nivedita slapped the local BJP media in charge, Ravi Badone, a claim denied by her.

Collector Nivedita, said, “Rajgarh is a communally sensitive district. Last year, there was a communal clash on January 26. Hence, I asked the BJP leaders to hold their programme after January 26. But, they didn’t listen to my appeal. When they assembled at Biora despite prohibitory orders to create a law and order problem, I asked the police to take away two former MLAs who have a criminal history so that they cannot instigate the party workers.”

Digvijaya Singh backed the collector aid she did what was required under law to control the situation. He also said that she had denied permission to Congress and others to hold anti-CAA protests in the past.

The collector said that it was “unfortunate” that the incident is being given a political colour and she was being dubbed as a pro-Congress and anti-BJP. “I had earlier disallowed protest by the Congress also,” she said.