Seven hurt in Congress, RSS workers’ clash in Ranchi

RANCHI - Seven people were injured Tuesday in a clash between activists of the Congress and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) here, police said.

The RSS Tuesday organised sit-ins in all 24 districts of Jharkhand to protest accusations of the Rajasthan and Maharashtra Special Task Force against many of its senior leaders that they orchestrated the 2007 Ajmer bomb blast.

“The protest took place at Albert Ekka roundabout. Soon, some Congress activists gathered there and started to burn an effigy of K.C. Sudarshan,” a police officer told IANS.

The Congress activists were protesting former RSS chief K.C. Sudarshan’s recent objectionable remarks on Sonia Gandhi. Soon, the situation turned violent, and seven activists, both from the Congress and the RSS, were injured, he said.

“The Congress workers also set fire to the tents set up for the RSS sit-in,” he added.

Both the Congress and the RSS have lodged complaints with police.

Earlier, the sit-in was attended by the RSS’ all-India pracharak (official) Madan Das Devi, who said the Congress had implicated RSS leaders in the Ajmer blast case.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has blamed the Congress for the violence.

“The RSS demonstration was planned one week in advance. Congress workers deliberately chose the same place to protest. Congress workers attacked RSS workers and set on fire the tents meant for their (RSS) sit-in,” said Dineshananad Goswami, Jharkhand BJP president.

The Congress, on the other hand, blamed RSS workers for the violence. “Congress workers were peacefully protesting and they were targeted by RSS workers,” said Pradeep Balmuchu, state Congress president.