On Monday, 21st October, founder chief of Swaraj India and Aandolanjeevi, Yogendra Yadav, was allegedly manhandled by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) activists and supporters of party president Prakash Ambedkar in the Akola region of Maharashtra.
The VBA members argued with the Aandolanjeevi Yogendra Yadav, and attempted to assault him, after which he was escorted out of the event venue under a security cordon of activists. The activists stopped the Bharat Jodo Campaign event that Yogendra Yadav was addressing, and also stopped him from talking to the attendees.
The video of the incident was posted by local news media Lokmat in which the VBA activists could be seen raising slogans against Yogendra Yadav. They also broke the chairs and created chaos, after which the police had to be deployed to get Yadav out of the event venue safely.
The incident apparently happened when Yogendra Yadav reached the Akola region of Maharashtra for the Bharat Jodo Campaign ahead of the state assembly elections scheduled in November this year.
Yadav took to X to post about the incident. “The attack on me and my colleagues of Bharat Jodo Abhiyan in Akola (Maharashtra) today is a matter of grave concern for every democracy lover. As part of the Vidarbha tour of Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, we were holding a conference on the topic ‘Protection of Constitution and our vote’, when a mob of 40-50 people climbed on to the stage and moved towards me to stop me from speaking. We remained seated and local colleagues formed a circle and protected us. Even after the police arrived, the rioters continued to attack and vandalize. The meeting ended there,” he said.
आज अकोला (महाराष्ट्र) में मुझ पर और भारत जोड़ो अभियान के साथियों पर जो हमला हुआ वह हर लोकतंत्रप्रेमी के लिए गंभीर चिंता का विषय है। भारत जोड़ो अभियान के विदर्भ दौरे के तहत हम “संविधान की रक्षा और हमारा वोट” विषय पर सम्मेलन कर रहे थे, तो मुझे बोलने से रोकने के लिए 40-50 लोगों की… pic.twitter.com/59wsdPWVob
— Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) October 21, 2024
“In the last 25 years, I have addressed several places in Maharashtra, but this has never happened before. This is sad not only for Maharashtra but also for those who believe in the Constitution and democracy. This incident further strengthens our dedication to protecting our democracy. Whoever is scared of what I say, listen – I will come back to Akola!”, he added.
This is a day after Yadav declared that he would campaign for the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections. “We have already started our work and intend to focus on 150 seats for the Congress-led alliance,” Yadav was quoted as saying here on Saturday.
Yogendra Yadav, a former psephologist, was intimately affiliated with the Aam Admi Party before splitting with its founder, Arvind Kejriwal. Later, he founded Swaraj India, a loose alliance of various smaller grassroots NGOs advocating for clean governance. He also served as the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Abhiyan convener.
Addressing reporters on Saturday, Yadav stated that his organization would support MVA candidates in 40 Vidarbha seats. A general assembly election is scheduled to be held in Maharashtra on 20th November 2024 to elect the 288 members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the counting and the results will be declared on 23rd November 2024.
