Jammu: Agitated over the alleged “derogatory” remarks of a senior National Panthers Party (NPP) leader, dozens of BJP Mahila Morcha activists on Saturday stormed the office of the rival party here and later staged a protest after finding all rooms locked.
NPP condemned the BJP for “vandalising” its Gandhi Nagar office and sought appropriate punitive action against the offenders.
Chanting slogans against NPP president Balwant Singh Mankotia for his reported “insulting” remarks against a BJP leader during campaigning for party candidates in Udhampur recently, the BJP women activists entered the NPP office but found all the doors inside locked.
They staged a noisy demonstration before leaving the complex.
“Mankotia had hurt the women of the country by using the words like ‘Nachniya and Mujra Karne Wali’ against the party leader during an election rally in Udhampur,” BJP Mahila Morcha president Sanjita Dogra, who was leading the protest, said.
Condemning Mankotia for his “derogatory, insulting and highly shameful” remarks against women, Dogra appealed to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to look into the matter seriously by directing the police to book and arrest him.
Later on, BJP Mahila Morcha registered an official complaint against Mankotia with Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu, a party spokesperson said.
In a statement, NPP general secretary Manju Singh criticised the BJP for taking law in their hands and said they need to be dealt with under law for their “criminal conduct”.
“The BJP activists trespassed into the party office, causing damage to office property, furniture and fixtures. The unauthorised entry of BJP sponsored female trespassers was highly objectionable and condemnable besides being violative of the law,” she said.
Manju said if the BJP had any grouse against NPP leadership, it could have adopted a proper procedure to ventilate its feelings.
“But ransacking an office by forcible entry, threatening the office boys and damage to office property was a heinous offence which needed due cognisance of authorities concerned,” the NPP leader said.
She added that the party had filed an FIR against the BJP leadership including its president Ravinder Raina for “instigating and abetting” the commission of offences in NPP office by its sponsored workers.
