HOSHIARPUR — Former Union Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Sampla sustained injuries on Wednesday during a violent confrontation between BJP and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers in Barian Kalan village. The scuffle broke out at a protest site organized following the vandalism of a Dr. B.R. Ambedkar statue.
Local police intervened to de-escalate the confrontation, and additional security personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order.
Key Operational & Political Highlights
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Protest & Altercation: Tensions escalated when BJP leaders—including Vijay Sampla, Punjab BJP SC Morcha President Sheetal Angural, and Hoshiarpur District President Nitin Gupta Nannu—arrived at the demonstration. A verbal dispute over political slogans turned physical when Sampla was hit with a microphone, sustaining facial injuries and scratches.
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Statue Desecration Investigation: Local police have registered an FIR following reports that unidentified miscreants pelted stones at the statue, damaging its structure. Authorities are examining local CCTV footage to identify the culprits.
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Law & Order Deployment: DSP Chabbewal Bharat Saini confirmed that the situation in the village has stabilized under heavy police monitoring.
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Political Reactions:
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BJP: Punjab BJP President Kewal Singh Dhillon strongly condemned both the desecration of the Ambedkar statue and the physical attack on party leadership, calling for strict legal action.
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AAP: Jasvir Singh Garhi, Chairman of the Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes, accused BJP leadership of instigating a commotion at the protest site.
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BSP: Punjab BSP President Avtar Singh Karimpuri defended his party’s right to stage political protests and criticized the police presence during the confrontation.
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