india

Updated: Jan 07, 2014 20:48 IST

Several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers were allegedly beaten up by Congress workers after a minor scuffle in Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress vice- president Rahul Gandhi, on Monday.



AAP has already announced that it will field a candidate against Gandhi in Amethi in upcoming Lok Sabha election.



The incident took place during a public debate organised by a TV channel at Ramlila ground at 11:30am.

The local Congress workers participating in the debate objected to the trademark caps sported by AAP workers during the program. They told them to remove the cap before sitting on the dais, which the AAP workers refused.

This resulted in a heated exchange between the workers of the two parties and as the tempers ran high Congress workers allegedly manhandled and beat up some of the AAP members.

"The Congress leaders beat us up for no of fault of ours. We had told the organisers that AAP workers would sport the cap. The Congress workers tried to create fear among the AAP workers with muscle power," said AAP spokesperson Harikesh Srivastava.



"It was a minor clash, some slaps and manhandling took place. No one was injured though. Local people came to our rescue," Adarsh Vajpayee, AAP's election incharge in Amethi, added.

He said that AAP members were chased away from the spot.



The president of district Congress Committee Yogendra Mishra and former president Prem Narain Tiwari said none of the AAP workers belonged to Amethi.

They were brought from Lucknow and other districts to participate in the program, they said.



OP Singh, station House Officer of Amethi, said that he has not received any complaint from the AAP leaders.



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