Former Minister and BJP leader Badrilal Yadav on Wednesday said the Rajgarh Collector fed milk to Congress workers but assaulted his party’s, while demanding action against her for allegedly thrashing BJP workers during a rally supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Sunday.
At a public meeting calling for action against Collector Nidhi Nivedita and Sub Divisional Magistrate Priya Verma in Biaora of the district, Mr. Yadav said, “She feeds Congress workers milk with a lot of love, sits them in her lap and feeds milk, but canes and slaps BJP workers.”
Accompanied by police personnel, the two officials came down on BJP workers for taking out the rally allegedly in violation of prohibitory orders. In two videos doing the rounds on the social media, the officials can be seen slapping workers and dragging them. One of the workers even pulls Ms. Verma’s ponytail. The police have registered a case against two persons for allegedly molesting her, and another against 125 persons for breaking the law.
At the same meeting on Wednesday, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said with the Collector, an alumna of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), “the JNU virus has come to Rajgarh”.
Moreover, Leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Gopal Bhargava said the Constitution did not give the officials the right to slap anyone. “If not for the Constitution, you’d be cooking at home.”
Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh IAS Officers’ Association condemned the “derogatory” remarks and issued a statement saying, “They not only demoralise the administrative machinery but also demean the dignity of women officials who are proud members of the service and contribute immensely in serving the State and its people.”
Responding to a public interest litigation, the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued a notice to the Collector seeking a response within four weeks on allegation of the administration’s heavy-handedness.
