Slipper thrown at Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Stones and slippers were hurled at Madhya Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan at Churhat on Monday. The Chief Minister's Jan Ashirwad Rath was also shown black flags during a campaign rally. The state BJP has blamed the Congress as Churhat is the constituency of opposition leader Ajay Singh. The window of the bus was damaged but no one was injured in the incident.
Addressing a public meeting in Churhat, the Chief Minister challenged Ajay Singh to "come out in the open and fight" with him. "The Congress is baying for my blood. No politician stooped so low in Madhya Pradesh," said Mr Chouhan. Earlier political parties had difference in opinion but never targeted each other's rallies he said, accusing the Congress party of starting political violence in the state and setting a bad precedent, harming the democratic spirit.
"All those who have been arrested in the incident are linked with the Congress party," said Mr Chouhan, adding that the windscreen of the bus was broken and "anyone could have been hurt."
Ajay Singh has categorically denied that his party workers were linked with the incident. In a statement he said, "No Congress worker was involved in the stone-throwing incident. I suspect it was a conspiracy aimed at defaming me and the people of Churhat."
Stones thrown at Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's bus during campaign rally
It's not only the ruling BJP leaders who are facing stones and black flags. Just months before the assembly polls, both BJP and Congress are facing opposition from the people protesting amendment in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The protests started a week ago from Aankli village in Jawad constituency in Madhya Pradesh. People of the unserved category joined OBC voters protesting the passage of the Bill, which restores the original law by reversing the March 2018 Supreme Court judgment on prevention of misuse of the law.
On Sunday, protesters took out a rally near the residence of union minister Narendra Singh Tomar in Gwalior. On the same day, state Congress chief Kamal Nath was shown black flags, while he was on his way to rally in Vidisha. Members of Samanya Picchda Alpasankhyak Adhikari Karmachari Sanstha (SAPAKS) raised slogans against him.
On Friday, hundreds of protesters targeted Guna Lok Sabha lawmaker and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and BJP Rajya Sabha lawmaker Prabhat Jha. Mr Scindia, had come to participate in a rally in Guna. An hour before his arrival, protesters tore down his posters, forced shopkeepers to shut shops and raised slogans against the central government.