In yet another attack following the Lok Sabha Elections in the country, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker lost his life. The victim, identified as Sanjay Mishra, was a dedicated BJP party worker who had been actively campaigning for the party. During the campaign, he had a confrontation with workers from the opposition, the Samajwadi Party (SP). Once the election results were announced, SP workers came to Sanjay’s house and attacked him, resulting in fatal injuries and ultimately his death. This incident took place in the Shravasti district of Uttar Pradesh.
According to reports, Sanjay Mishra was an active BJP worker and was appointed as the Panna Pramukh for the Shivpuri Bankat area. He had been vigorously campaigning for the BJP.
On the day the results were declared, June 4, Mishra went to the house of Sunil Verma for a lunch invitation. At Sunil’s house, a scuffle broke out between Mishra and Ghanshyam over their political affiliations, with Mishra supporting the BJP and Ghanshyam supporting the SP. During this altercation, Ghanshyam assaulted Mishra, prompting him to go to the police to file a complaint. However, no complaint was registered by the police.
In the days following the altercation, Mishra remained at home.
On June 7, after learning that Sanjay Mishra had contacted the police following an earlier assault, the attackers reached his house. In the presence of his family members, they began lynching Mishra. When his wife and children intervened, the attackers threatened to kill them as well.
The assailants used bamboo sticks to brutally assault Mishra. He managed to escape to the terrace, but the attackers followed and pushed him down. Even after throwing him down, they continued their assault by pelting stones at him.
After the attackers fled, Mishra’s family rushed him to the Community Health Center (CHC), where he was declared dead. A video of his family after the dead body was brought home can be found here.
The hospital staff informed the police, and a case was subsequently registered. A First Information Report (FIR number 69/2024) has been filed, and police teams are actively investigating the matter.
In the FIR, Mishra’s wife, Nandana Devi, reported to the police that her husband was attacked and killed by locals due to past animosity. She identified the accused as Ghanshyam, Badkan Chaurasiya, Chhotka, Shrikant Chaurasiya, and others.
After receiving information about the incident, SP Ghanshyam Chaurasia inspected the scene. The SP confirmed that a case has been registered and an investigation is underway. He has given strict instructions to Station In-Charge Gannath Prasad to arrest the accused promptly.
As per the FIR the accused have been booked under IPC sections 147 (Rioting), 149 (Unlawful Assembly), 302 (Murder), 323 (Voluntarily Causing Hurt), 504 (Intentional Insult with Intent to Provoke Breach of the Peace) and 506 (Criminal Intimidation).
Following Mishra’s death, his wife Nandana is left to care for their daughter (7) and two sons (5 and 3 years old). Mishra, whose parents died when he was a minor, lived with his maternal grandparents in Shravasti and was a farmer by profession.
It is noteworthy that in the Shravasti Lok Sabha constituency, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Shiromani Verma won the election with 511,055 votes. The BJP candidate, Saket Mishra, secured the second spot with 434,382 votes. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) fielded a Muslim candidate, Muinuddin Ahmad Khan, also known as Hazi Daddan Khan, who came third.
In the 2022 assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party won this constituency. Ram Feran Pandey of the Bharatiya Janata Party won the seat by defeating Mohd. Aslam Raini of the Samajwadi Party.
Readers should be aware that the recent attack on Sanjay Mishra is not an isolated incident; numerous instances of violence against BJP workers and supporters have been reported in the past few days.
On June 9, a horrifying incident shook the village of Boliyaru in Karnataka’s Mangaluru. Two BJP workers were brutally stabbed by a group of 20-30 unidentified individuals from the Muslim community. The attack was triggered by the celebration of Prime Minister Modi’s third consecutive victory, provoking the ire of those opposed to the BJP’s presence and influence. The victims, Harish Anchan (41) and Nandakumar (24), were targeted during the evening festivities following the oath-taking ceremony.
Similarly, in the Shahganj area of Jaunpur district, violence erupted following objectionable remarks directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and the BJP. On Friday, June 7, 2024, tensions between the Muslim and Dalit communities led to injuries for about a dozen individuals, with six victims in critical condition requiring hospitalisation. Security forces were deployed to quell the escalating tension in the affected village.
In the Muslim-majority village of Kaushambi, Hindu households faced an abrupt halt in their water supply. Allegations from the Hindu community suggest that directives from the mosque via a fatwa instructed Muslim families not to patronise Hindu-owned shops and refrain from using water from private wells. This has instilled fear among Hindu families, who feel targeted and marginalised.
In Bengal, BJP worker Prasanta Haldar from the Vidyadhar Palli area of Baruipur was forced to leave his home immediately after casting his vote during the 7th phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Haldar and his family sought refuge at a relative’s house, while he joined approximately 50 others seeking sanctuary at the BJP office in Baruipur. “Election season for us means the season of leaving home,” Haldar lamented, expressing the recurrent trauma faced by him and fellow party workers.
Mamoni Das, Vice President of the BJP Baruipur, recounted how TMC supporters forcibly evicted her from her home in Matherdighi village. Despite relocating to rented accommodations in Sahapara and Kathpol, threats continued to loom. On the day of the Lok Sabha election results, 50 TMC goons besieged her house, injuring her husband and mother. Fearing for their safety, Mamoni and her family sought refuge at the party office, which has since become their temporary home.
Bikas Roy, another BJP worker, faced similar persecution. TMC assailants confiscated his e-rickshaw and targeted his residence, leaving him no choice but to seek refuge elsewhere. Approximately 100 individuals have taken shelter in a building adjacent to the BJP’s West Bengal headquarters in Kolkata, reflecting the widespread distress among BJP workers.
The situation has drawn severe criticism from the judiciary, with the Calcutta High Court rebuking the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government over the post-poll violence plaguing West Bengal.
