Widespread violence broke out on Thursday, 8 July, in various districts in Uttar Pradesh, including Siddharthnagar, Sitapur, Gorakhpur, Sambhal, during the nomination of papers for the block pramukh elections.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the incidents.
ADG Prashant Kumar said that, out of 825 nomination centres of Block Pramukh, 14 centres reported issues including snatching of nomination papers, confrontation between groups as well as small scuffles and fights.
According to IANS, a majority of the incidents took place when the Opposition candidates were prevented from filing their nomination papers.
Tensions, Incidents Reported From Multiple Areas
In Siddharthnagar, former Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey was assaulted.
In Sitapur, independent candidate Munni Devi, who had arrived to file her nomination in Kamlapur, was prevented from going in. Unidentified people opened fire in the presence of the police and some people lobbed crude bombs. Three people were left injured in the incident.
Devi's supporters blocked the highway in protest against the incident.
Meanwhile, in Ambedkar Nagar, some miscreants reportedly snatched the nomination papers from the hands of former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) minister Lalji Varma, leading to violent clashes.
"It is BJP leader Tejaswi Jaiswal who snatched the papers which led to tension and clashes."Lalji Varma, Minister, Bahujan Samaj Party
In Kannauj too, supporters of Samajwadi Party and BJP clashed, with leaders of the former alleging that they were being prevented from filing nomination papers, IANS reported.
A journalist with a news channel was also beaten up while he was filming the incident.
Similar incidents were reported from Fatehpur where some people brandished firearms in the presence of the police and tore up the nomination papers of some candidates. Journalists were also roughed up in the area.
Samajwadi Party MLC Sunil Kumar Sajan, in Unnao, alleged that the police were working actively to prevent non-BJP candidates from filing nominations.
"This is state sponsored terrorism and certainly not what is expected in a democracy. We strongly condemn this," he said, according to IANS.
(With inputs from IANS)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)