Raipur: A tug of war has erupted between the leaders of Indian National Congress (INC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the Chhattisgarh police in a significant development arrested incumbent Congress MLA from Bhilai, Devendra Yadav in connection with the arson and rioting incident in Balodabazar on Saturday, August 17.
Yadav was arrested by the Balodabazar police after a marathon exercise given major protest by the Congress workers in connection with the case which grabbed the nation’s attention after a protest called by the Satnami community in Balodabazar town escalated dramatically culminating in arson and vandalism on large scale on June 10th afternoon.
The arrested congress leader was later brought to Balodabazar police station and was subsequently produced before a CJM court from where he was sent in judicial custody for 3 days. The development triggered large scale protest from the workers of the Congress party who gathered near the police station in support of the arrested lawmaker and resorted to sloganeering against the administration.
Who is Devendra Yadav
A two time MLA from the Bhilai state assembly constituency, Devendra Yadav rose to prominence after he defeated BJP’s Prem Prakash Pandey and became an MLA from Bhilai Nagar constituency in 2018, Yadav is considered close to the Congress top brass.
The congress lawmaker however has been at the center of controversies and was also named in much debated coal levy scam which allegedly flourished in the state during the previous regime of Congress party.
Yadav has already been grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the multi crore scam where illegal proceed of crime worth crores was generated by a cartel composed of politician, bureaucrats and individuals with significant political backing as claimed by the ED. His name was also popped in the infamous MMS scandal.
However, the Congress heavy weight has not only been denying the allegations against him from day one but he also continue to be a popular face of the congress party in the state of Chhattisgarh. In the Balodabazar case, police have reportedly sent four notices to him and eventually arrest him on Saturday for allegedly not cooperating into the investigation.
Congress accuses BJP for vendetta politics
However, Yadav’s arrest has not boded well with the workers and leaders of the congress party who while terming the Balodabazar incident a glaring example of intelligence failure are accusing the BJP government for doing vendetta politics.
Addressing a press conference over the arrest, top leaders of the party on Sunday alleged that the arrest of Yadav was motivated by vendetta politics and the party is standing rock solid with Yadav. The party has also called a meeting of its MLA’s on Tuesday, August 20 and is expected to lunch a state-wide agitation on August 24.
आज राजीव भवन रायपुर में आयोजित प्रेस वार्ता के दौरान उपस्थित प्रदेश अध्यक्ष श्री @DeepakBaijINC, नेता प्रतिपक्ष श्री @DrCharandas जी, पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री श्री @bhupeshbaghel जी एवं कांग्रेस नेताओं की उपस्थिति में घोषणा की गई। कांग्रेस के विधायक श्री @Devendra_1925 सहित युवा… pic.twitter.com/ODgzGi8cge
— INC Chhattisgarh (@INCChhattisgarh) August 18, 2024
BJP hits back
Meanwhile reacting to the allegations of the Congress party, Chief Minister, Vishnu Deo Sai has remarked that “the police is doing its work and there is no conspiracy behind it, Yadav is not a common man he is an MLA and the police must have thought about it thoroughly”.
Taking it further, former Congress leader who recently has switched side to BJP, Radhika Khera in a video message released on X on Sunday slammed Devendra Yadav for his alleged involvement in a number of cases. “Like an elephant, the Congress too has two teeth…Yadav who is a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi is a master of many skills be it earning money in coal levy scam or securing cut-money in Mahadev app”.
हाथी की तरह कांग्रेस के भी दो दांत हैं – दिखाने और खाने के!
छत्तीसगढ़ में राहुल गांधी का खासम-ख़ास देवेंद्र यादव क्यों पहुँचा जेल?
भूपेश बघेल के मंसूबों पर भाजपा सरकार ने कैसे फेरा पानी? 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/n4rOw4l1i5
— Radhika Khera (@Radhika_Khera) August 18, 2024
“The Congress is trying to lead Chhattisgarh into disability by creating an environment of violence and feat though the BJP will not let them succeed at any cost,” added Khera.
The Balodabazar incident
Notably, an agitated mob of protestors on June 10 set ablaze several government offices along vandalising hundreds of vehicles in joint collector’s office premises by breaching the security installments over vandalism of the ‘Jaitkham’, a sacred symbol associated with the Satnami community near Amar Gufa in Mahkoni village of Giroudpuri on the intervening night of May 15-16.
The protest was called almost a fortnight after the members of the community expressed their disagreement over the initial arrest made by the police in connection with the vandalism episode at Amar Gufa on May 15-16.
Significantly the police had arrested three individuals in the case and claimed that the accused had carried out the provoking act in drunken state as they were unhappy about not receiving their wages from one of the contractor of the village.
However, the theory given by police did not boded well with the community members, who while refuting the arrests made by the police demanded a higher enquiry into the matter and warned for continuation of protest in case of inaction.
The community members then assembled in the Dussehra ground to mark their protest against the vandalism episode on June 10. However, a significant chunk of the protestors soon barged in the collector office premises after their agitation escalated dramatically and became uncontrollable.
The demonstrators resorted to vandalism in vehicles on their way to the collector’s office, where they set ablaze dozens of four-wheelers parked in the premises. Hundreds of two-wheelers stationed near the premises were also vandalised by the mob who had a brief altercation with the police personnel trying to contain the violence.
Later on the officials informed that initial estimate of the damage done during the violence in the collector’s premises stand at around Rs 12 crore while a total of 240 vehicles have been damaged during the violence. This includes a total of 31 private and government four wheelers and 60 two wheelers which have been completely charred in the arson incident. Additionally, a total of 27 four wheelers and 122 two wheelers have also been damaged partially into the violent act.
