Lakhimpur Kheri: A BJP MLA was assaulted during a ruckus that broke out during the nomination filing process for the urban cooperative bank elections in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district on Wednesday.
BJP leader Yogesh Verma was roughed up in the incident, a video of which has also gone viral on social media. Police said the situation aggravated following a dispute between two groups but presently things are under control.
Elections are to be held in the urban cooperative bank on November 3. The bank has 12,000 members who will choose the delegates for electing 10 directors. These directors will in turn elect the president.
Presently, nomination papers are being filed for the polls. The current president is Pushpa Singh from the BJP while the other faction is said to be led by MLA Yogesh Verma.
It has been leant that when Verma reached the premises today, Pushpa Singh's husband Awadhesh Singh allegedly assaulted him, triggering a ruckus. In the viral video, the authenticity of which has has not been confirmed by ETV Bharat, the MLA is seen being slapped by a group of men while a police team intervenes, trying to pacify the two groups. The police team is seen taking away the MLA.
It is said that there was tension between the two groups since Tuesday. The MLA met the ADM and complained that he was assaulted by Pushpa Singh's husband and others, who had also tore off the nomination list. He has also demanded an investigation into the matter.
On the other hand, Awadhesh Singh and Pushpa Singh said that the MLA was trying to show off his power. They also said that the MLA should go to the returning officer to complaint about irregularities.
"The MLA is neither a member nor a delegate so in what capacity did he come? All the allegations are wrong. The MLA himself came with 150-200 supporters to create a ruckus," the couple said.
Notably, Pushpa Singh had also contested the Nagar Palika president election on a BJP ticket but was defeated by independent candidate Ira Srivastava.
Additional SP Eastern Pawan Gautam said that that a tension rose between the two groups but they were pacified.
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