RANCHI: BJP workers and the Ranchi police clashed here on Tuesday when workers of the saffron party marched towards the Jharkhand secretariat for a previously announced gherao programme, officials said.
Police burst tear gas shells, used water canons and lathi-charged the protestors to prevent them from marching to the secretariat, where prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Cr Pc was clamped as a deterrant.
Ranchi senior superintendent of police Kishore Kaushal said a total of 20 people have been arrested and the situation is under control.
Ranchi city superintendent of police, Shubhashu Jain said that several police personnel and media persons were injured when some of the agitating BJP workers hurled bottles and stones.
"We resorted to mild lathi charge and used tear gas when the agitators broke through the police barricades and tried to move ahead forcefully. Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed around the secretariat and a crowd cannot be allowed there after a certain limit," the SP told media persons.
He said some prominent leaders of the BJP "courted" arrest but did not name anyone.
Among those seen being whisked away by the police were BJP MPs Sanjay Seth and Sameer Oraon and MLAs Biranchi Narayan and Amit Mandal.
The march to the Jharkhand secretariat was organised to protest against deteriorating law and order, prevailing corruption and high rate of unemployment in the mineral-rich state.
Ranchi deputy commissioner Rahul Sinha said "There was a violation of prohibitory orders and legal action will be taken against the perpetrators by magistrates. FIRs will be lodged if needed. We are in the process of identifying wrongdoers through drone shots and videography."
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BJP state president and MP Deepak Prakash, who was among those who led the march, told PTI, "We will not allow the corrupt Mahagathbandhan government to continue in Jharkhand. We have pledged to show it the exit door. Several of our workers have been injured in the police lathi-charge".
He claimed that the protest by workers who came from across the state has instilled "a sense of fear" in the Jharkhand government and Chief Minister Hemant Soren had left Ranchi "out of fear".
Government officials said Soren is in Sahibganj for a scheduled programme.
Prakash said the party selected the state secretariat for the stir as it is the place where the chief minister takes "wrong decisions and bureaucrats follow them".
Former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi who along with some BJP leaders sat on a dharna near the barricade put up near the secretariat told PTI that at least 18 BJP workers were injured in the police lathi charge.
He said the administration was trying to stop BJP workers from reaching Ranchi for the last two days.
"Despite the administration's attempts to suppress BJP workers, thousands of them reached near the secretariat."
The agitation has been successful and the imposition of the prohibitory orders was an attempt to suppress the people's voice against the government. No matter how many tricks the Soren government uses, this agitation will be historic," Marandi asserted.
Marandi along with Raghubar Das, another former chief minister, Union Ministers Arjun Munda and Annapurna Devi and BJP MPs from the state led the rally along with Prakash.
During the march BJP workers raised slogans like 'Takht badal do taj badal do' (change the chair, change the crown) and 'Sinhasan khali karo ki janata aati hai' (leave the throne, people are marching towards it).
At a protest meeting BJP leaders hit out at the JMM government in Jharkhand for alleged "family-sponsored corruption, lawlessness and wrong policies" which has led to unmeployment and pledged to show it the 'exit door'.
Sinha told PTI that prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC was camped in the secretariat area at 8 am and will continue till late evening. If need be, the orders will be extended.
The BJP has claimed that Jharkhand's unemployment rate is 14.3 per cent, which is almost double the figure of the national average of 7.2 per cent.
The coalition government of JMM, Congress, and RJD had promised five lakh jobs every year in the election manifesto but it has provided only 537 jobs in the past three years.
Altogether 3.27 lakh government posts are vacant but the Hemant Soren government has no intention to provide jobs to the youths of the state, who are forced to migrate to other places for employment, Prakash said on Monday announcing the agitation.
Soren in a twitter post on Monday said new appointments by the government are delayed due to obstacles created by the opposition.
"The recruitment process has started. Yes, it is a fact that there was a delay in this due to anti-Jharkhand thinking of the opposition and the difficulties created by them. Ways have been opened for the hardworking youths of our state," he said.
JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya had called the agitation a "political gimmick" and said "We are not taking it seriously, as this is just a political stunt of the BJP.
