Slippers, tempers fly at Jaipur corporation meet

JAIPUR, MARCH 4: It was a free-for-all at the Jaipur Municipal Corporation meeting yesterday with a Congress member threatening to make a ...

JAIPUR, MARCH 4: It was a free-for-all at the Jaipur Municipal Corporation meeting yesterday with a Congress member threatening to make a “revelation” about a BJP woman member which would put her to shame, and the latter charging towards him with a slipper in hand, tears running down her cheeks. A clash between the parties followed, ending the meeting abruptly and the police were called. In the lathi-charge that ensued, members of the BJP, Congress and several policemen were injured.

The drama started when Congress member Ghulam Nabi said his “revelation” would put BJP member Suman Sharma to “so much shame that she would not be able to come to the next meeting” of the corporation. Sharma, president of the city BJP’s Mahila Morcha, started crying and rushed towards him with a slipper in her hand. Her party colleague Urmila Chheepa and some male colleagues also joined her. The Congress members, including several women, came forward to shield Ghulam Nabi from the attack.

The clash led to several members from both sides falling down. The police, which were summoned, started raining blows on the members. Two police officials also fell down, caught between the warring sides. Several members took refuge under tables.

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The emergency meeting of the corporation had been called to discuss the ongoing demolition drive in the city in the wake of US President Bill Clinton’s visit. The biggest operation to clear encroachments since the Emergency is being handled by Chief Executive Officer Manjit Singh, IAS, at the behest of the Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot. The corporation, however, is under the BJP’s control. Mayor Nirmala Verma of the BJP is a former president of the Rajasthan BJP Mahila Morcha.

Besides Ghulam Nabi’s threat to Sharma, which let tempers loose, the meeting saw heated exchanges between the BJP and the Congress throughout. Agitated BJP members called Nabi’s allegation as an attempt at “character assassination” and demanded an apology from him.