Hooda, Tanwar supporters clash during Rahul’s rally

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 6

Supporters of former CM Bhupinder Hooda and state Congress president Ashok Tanwar clashed while waiting to receive vice-president of the party Rahul Gandhi for his rally on the completion of his 2,500-km Kisan Yatra here today.

The clash occurred in two bursts.

Tanwar received minor injuries on his head in the incident. He was taken to hospital for first aid. Farmers from Haryana and party leaders were given a venue to receive Rahul, who had to address a public meeting.

The Tanwar faction alleged Hooda supporters were the aggressors. The Hooda supporters counter-charged that the Tanwar faction stage-managed a fracas to create a controversy.

CLP leader Kiran Choudhry, considered to be from the anti-Hooda group, expressed concern over the incident.

MLAs Geeta Bhukkal and Kuldip Sharma, who are from the pro-Hooda camp, said the incident was unfortunate.

“It was the duty of the state party president to control the situation,” said Bhukkal.

While the Tanwar camp apparently dominated the venue in terms of the number of hoardings, Hooda supporters had area domination.

While Hooda stood silently throughout at one end, Tanwar was seen addressing his supporters in the crowd with the help of the portable public address system.

The skirmish broke out all of a sudden. In a flash, a fight broke out among a few persons on the side of the crowd owing allegiance to Tanwar. This was about 30 minutes before Rahul arrived.

A memorandum signed by Congress leaders on behalf of farmers regarding their grievances was submitted to Rahul.

Hooda turned back by Tanwar men

Former CM Bhupinder Hooda who visited Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to inquire about the health of Tanwar was turned back by the latter’s supporters on Thursday evening. Hooda was not allowed to meet Tanwar by the latter’s supporters. They raised slogans against him, forcing him to return.