A violent clash broke out between BJP and Congress workers outside the latter’s party office in Patna on Friday, following protests by the BJP over derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother from the stage of a Congress event in Darbhanga a day earlier.
Tensions escalated as workers from both parties engaged in physical altercations, using flags and sticks to attack each other. While police intervened to bring the situation under control, sources said that several people were injured, and a few vehicles parked inside the Congress office premises were damaged.
The incident stemmed from a video that surfaced on August 27, showing a man draped in a Congress flag abusing the Prime Minister from a rally stage before the mic was taken away from him.
The BJP lodged two complaints – one at Kotwali police station in Patna by Danish Eqbal, the Bihar BJP media in-charge, and another at Simri police station in Darbhanga by Aditya Narayan Chaudhary, the district BJP president.
Bihar minister Nitin Nabin, who joined the protest, alleged, “We came here to protest peacefully. But from inside the Congress office, stones were hurled and guns were shown. BJP workers are not afraid of bricks or guns. We will take revenge for the insult to our mother.”
He warned the leaders of the Congress and the RJD, “Do not force BJP workers to make it difficult for you to move freely in Bihar.”
Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, responding to the clash, wrote on X, “Falsehood and violence cannot stand before truth and non-violence. Beat and break as much as you want to beat and break — we will continue to defend the Constitution and the truth. Satyamev Jayate.”
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DSP (Law and Order) Krishna Murari Prasad said, “As soon as the police received information, they immediately reached the spot… we are currently investigating what happened and will proceed accordingly.”
The Bihar State Women’s Commission also took suo motu cognisance of the abuse made against the Prime Minister’s mother and issued a letter to the Darbhanga District Magistrate demanding strict action. The letter stated that the comment was “not only indecent but also an attack on the dignity of women and democratic decorum.”
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also criticised the incident on Friday, stating on social media, “During the Voter Adhikar Yatra in Darbhanga, the kind of indecent language used from the Congress and RJD stage against the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother is extremely unbecoming, and I condemn it.”
On Friday morning, the Darbhanga Police confirmed the arrest of the man purportedly seen in the video. The accused has been identified as Mohammad Rizvi alias Raja (20), a resident of Bhapura village under Singhwara police station in Darbhanga district.
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Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged, “Their own agents infiltrate our meetings and raise wrong slogans, and then these same people make it an issue to divert attention from the Voter Adhikar Yatra. Their theft has been caught. That’s why they are panicked and have come to do goondaism at our Sadakat Ashram. Their ministers and MLAs are attacking our workers. But the country and countrymen are watching all this, and now their goondaism will not work at all.”
