Kalyan Police Detain Youth Congress Workers Planning March to BJP Office
Tensions flared in Kalyan on Thursday after police detained several Youth Congress workers and office-bearers before they could begin a planned march towards the local Bharatiya Janata Party office at Tilak Chowk. The demonstration had been called to protest the alleged purification with Gangajal of a venue in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, following a public meeting addressed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The Kalyan District Youth Congress organised the agitation to condemn the Haldwani incident, which the party described as reflecting a discriminatory and anti-Dalit mindset. Workers had assembled at Shivaji Chowk and planned to march through the streets directly to the BJP office located at Tilak Chowk.
The protest march was scheduled to be led by Kalyan District Youth Congress president Japjit Singh Mata alongside Congress women's district president and BMC group leader Kanchan Kulkarni. However, as soon as participants began gathering at Shivaji Chowk, Kalyan police intervened to stop the procession.
Police personnel erected barricades around Shivaji Chowk to block the route and prevent demonstrators from advancing. Officers detained several Congress office-bearers and party workers before the rally could formally get underway, citing the need to maintain law and order in the locality.
The detentions led to an immediate standoff between police personnel and the assembled demonstrators. Pushing and jostling were reported at the site as Congress workers voiced strong objections to being restricted from holding their scheduled demonstration. The situation remained briefly tense before the detained workers were taken away. They were subsequently released by the police.
Following the detentions, Kanchan Kulkarni criticised the police action and defended the party's right to demonstrate. Kulkarni stated that purifying a venue after an event attended by Mallikarjun Kharge reflected an anti-Dalit mindset, adding that while the Congress wanted to register its opposition democratically in Kalyan, workers were detained before the march could even start.
