RTI activist Aruna Roy has demanded immediate arrest of BJP MLA from Aklera Kanwar Lal Meena. Alleging that the MLA was leading a group of around 40 people in attack on members of the Soochna Evam Rozgar Manch when they were conducting an awareness drive on government accountability in Jhalawar, Ms Roy said that the party should also take action against him.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Ms Roy showed video-clippings clearly identifying Kanwar Lal Meena dressed in an orange shirt, leading the mob that attacks social activists. A stick in hand, he is seen going around damaging cars, attacking Ms Roy’s close associates Shankar Singh and Anurag Singh when they were conducting a roadshow on raising awareness about government accountability at Aklera area in Jhalawar on Saturday.
Women activists were abused, beaten and threatened to be killed by these goons even as they requested to have a dialogue. Ms Roy alleged that the police watched as mute spectator and refused to help when the activists sought their help saying, “The MLA himself is leading the attack what can we do.”
Mr Meena has denied the allegations claiming it as baseless as he had actually gone to defuse the situation when he was informed about the disturbance. However, the BJP has issued a notice to the MLA to explain his role in the attack. But, Ms Roy is not satisfied with the response of the Raje government and the BJP.
“He should be immediately arrested and suspended from the party,” she said.
“Everyone is afraid of this man in Jhalawar district who has many serious cases against him, yet the BJP chose to give him ticket to contest election,” she said. “Any person with similar cases, including threatening a senior government official with gun on his temple in presence of hundreds of person and the police, would have been notified as historysheeter,” she said.
She said that the onus is now on the CM to take action as the culprit is her party’s legislator, the incident took place in her home district and she has been talking about good governance.
Describing the attack as “pre-planned”, Nikhil Dey said, “We were not critical of the government, we didn’t take any names, we were just trying to work towards good governance, which the government itself has been professing.”
The police claimed to have arrested 11 persons but PUCL state president Kavita Srivastava questioned the police action because the main accused was still at large.
She also alleged that the police was in connivance with the attackers because first it tried to delete the MLA’s name from the FIR then deliberately slapped mild charges.
