BJP yatra in Surat pelted with eggs, party MP hit on head

Ahmedabad, May 26 (IANS) The BJP's 'Gaurav Vikas Yatra' was on Thursday pelted with eggs in Patidar-dominated Varachha area in Surat.

Surat's Bharatiya Janata Party MP Darshana Jardosh, who was leading the yatra, was hit on the head by an egg when the procession reached Dahya Park locality.

The march is aimed at celebrating the second anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government at the Centre as well as completion of two years in office by Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.

Eyewitnesses said some 15 to 20 eggs were thrown at the participants, which included, among others, Surat Mayor Asmita Shiroya, local MLA Janak Bagdana and state BJP secretary Darshini Kothiya.

Jardosh told reporters that unidentified anti-social elements planned the attack on the yatra even while it passed through other areas peacefully and received good public response.

Police later rounded up five supporters of the ongoing Patidar agitation and allegedly roughed up two of them, namely Chandrakant Kakadia and Sanjay Mavani.

Supporters of the Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) said Kakadia was hit with a bat and leather belts before police took him around in the Varachha area in an auto-rickshaw with handcuffs.

Earlier, during Jardosh's procession in Surat, scores of Patidar women protestors came out on the streets near Sapna Society in Varachha area and staged demonstrations by beating steel plates with rolling pins.

Meanwhile, PAAS leaders announced through Whatsapp that they will undertake a signature campaign in Patidar-dominated areas in support of their demand for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions under the OBC (other backward class) category.

They said that no rally or public event by the BJP will be allowed in Patidar areas till their demands were met by the state government, and warned that the ruling party will be responsible for any untoward incident.

In another incident in Surat on Wednesday night, Patidars threw eggs at Mayor Ashmita Siroya and Kamrej MLA Praful Pansheriya at a night cricket tournament organised by the BJP in Puna area.