Minister of State Somendra Tomar. (FILE)
A Samajwadi Party leader has come under police scrutiny for allegedly calling for burning down the house of a BJP member who reportedly thrashed Dalit councillors from opposition parties in a Meerut Municipal Corporation Board meeting.
A video which surfaced on social media purportedly showed SP leader Mukesh Siddharth making the statement. Police have taken cognisance of the video and begun investigating.
Mukesh Siddharth, a former vice-chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Caste-Tribe Commission, made the statement while talking to journalists during a protest at the Collectorate here on Saturday.
"If Minister of State Somendra Tomar is not arrested by January 10, then … his house should be burned, his car should be burned, he should be burned and the city should be burned," the SP leader allegedly said.
He added, "This is just a spark, when it becomes a volcano, the government will also come to know." Mr Siddharth alleged that despite a complaint against the minister, no action was taken against him.
Superintendent of Police (City) Ayush Vikram Singh told PTI that "Taking cognizance of the viral video of Mukesh Siddharth, the police have started their investigation." Members of the BJP and opposition parties came to blows during a Meerut Municipal Corporation Board meeting on December 30.
BJP and opposition leaders accused each other of starting the row aand filed cross complaints.
It is alleged that during the meeting, BJP's Legislative Council Member Dharmendra Bhardwaj was pushed and assaulted by the councillors of the opposition parties, after which the BJP councillors got enraged and attacked the Bahujan Samaj Party Councillor from Ward 36.
Ashish Chaudhary and SP councillor from Ward 31 Kuldeep alias Kirti Ghopla were allegedly beaten up in the fight.
The opposition councillors also accused, besides Bhardwaj, Minister of State for Energy Somendra Tomar of beating up Dalit councillors.
In the wake of the row, SP President Akhilesh Yadav, BSP President Mayawati, Rashtriya Lok Dal President Jayant Chaudhary, and Congress State President Ajay Rai threw their lot behind the Dalit councillors and slammed the BJP.
Jayant Chaudhary met the Dalit councillors in Zahidpur on Monday. They were earlier paid a visit by Congress State President Ajay Rai and Azad Samaj Party National President Chandrashekhar Azad.
Chandrashekhar Azad, who came to Meerut to meet the councillors, announced a Panchayat in the city on January 10 to discuss the matter.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)