Police Forced Me To Leave Udaipur: BJP Leader Ahead Of Congress' Chintan Shivir

A day ahead of the Congress' Chintan Shivir in Udaipur, the BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena on Thursday alleged that he was pressured by the police to leave the city.

Mr Meena, who reached Rajasthan's Udaipur on Wednesday night, said he was to attend a condolence meeting and has also been invited to a tribal conference in Dhariawad on May 14 but police officers did not allow him to move out of the hotel where he was staying.

Later in the evening, the BJP MP was taken from Udaipur to Jaipur by police. They halted in Beawar (Ajmer) where he shot a video statement, saying he will attend a 'Sadhan Shivir' of Shankaracharya in Pushkar, and if the police do not allow him, he will hold a dharna.

He also claimed that policemen had been deployed outside the hotel.

"I am being told to leave (Udaipur). They are pressuring me. Officers say they have orders from their higher-ups but could not show me the orders. This is a violation of my rights and murder of democracy," Mr Meena said in a video statement.

"I have informed the Rajasthan leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria, (BJP state president) Satish Poonia and (deputy leader of the opposition) Rajendra Rathore about the matter," he said.

Denying the allegations, Udaipur Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar said, "There was possibility of disturbance to law and order due to Kirodi Meena's presence in Udaipur. So, he was sent to Jaipur." In the hotel room in Udaipur, he also had heated argument with the police officers on being asked to leave the place.

In his video statement, Mr Meena said he wanted to hold a press conference in Udaipur to draw attention of Congress president Sonia Gandhi that the hotel where the 'Chintan Shivir' is going to be held was illegal and the Mr Gehlot government gave clearance to the hotel in violation of the rules.

He also said that he wanted to raise the issue of law and order, and atrocities against women in the Congress rule in Rajasthan but he was taken away from Udaipur.

"Police picked me from a hotel in Udaipur where I was staying. I had gone there to attend a condolence meeting, I wanted to do a press conference to raise the issues like law and order, migration from tribal area, exploitation of women, human trafficking, religion conversion, and poverty," he said.

Mr Meena said police officers, including additional SP, travelled with him in the vehicle, and alleged that he was also not allowed to visit Srinath temple in Rajsamand.

Mr Meena said that a three-day 'Sadhan Shivir' is being held in Pushkar and he wants to attend that but the police are stopping him from going there too.

"I am being tortured by the police. If the police stop me from going to Pushkar tomorrow, I will hold a dharna," he said.

In another video, Mr Meena is seen running on the road with police officers.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Satish Poonia condemned the behaviour of police with Mr Meena in Udaipur.

Mr Meena has been holding protests against the Congress government in Rajasthan over various issues, earning the ire of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who has termed the BJP MP's acts "nuisance".

The Congress is holding the Chintan Shivir from May 13 to 15 after a gap of almost nine years while facing "an unprecedented crisis" as it remains in power on its own in just two states and has less than 100 members in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)