New Delhi, Aug 12: Home Minister P Chidambaram today said protesting BJYM workers were not lathicharged by police on August 9 in the capital, an issue which had sparked uproar in Parliament with the BJP stalling proceedings and demanding his resignation.
“There was no lathicharge.... I have seen the visuals, the video footages. There was no clear visual of any lathi hitting any one,” Chidambaram told reporters at the GoM media briefing here when asked whether he justifies the police action.
The Home Minister was targeted by the Opposition in Parliament over the issue for three consecutive days and senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani had complained to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that the lathi-charge was carried out at the behest of Chidambaram.
The BJP had also demanded the resignation of Chidambaram over the issue.
The Home Minister said he wanted to make a statement in Parliament on the issue but did not get a chance. “If I had an opportunity I would have made the statement in Parliament. I was ready to make a statement,” he said.
Noting that the Delhi Police have already put out a statement that there was no lathicharge, Chidambaram said that he hopes that the matter was now over as Parliament had functioned for three days after the BJYM protest on Tuesday.
The youth wing activists had taken the metro to Parliament and then walked up to Vijay Chowk in small groups, taking the police by surprise. PTI
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